Family ties
by kdip4014
Summary: Callie's father let his opinion known, now what does the rest of their family members think? COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1

I have no idea where this story came from, but I kind of like it, so we'll see where it continues on. Finals and graduation are coming up, so it might be awhile, but I've got a good chunk out already.

* * *

Christina answers the knock at the door to find Arizona standing nervously on the other side. Saying nothing, she grabs her coat and keys and walks out the door. Before closing the door, she throws back her one line of the day.

"I'll be at Meredith's, feel free to make as much noise as you want." At the sound of the door closing, Callie comes out of her room.

"Christina- oh, hey, Arizona." Arizona takes a deep breath and turns to face the younger woman.

"We need to talk, Calliope."

"Okay. Does this require a drink?"

"It might. It certainly wouldn't hurt to have one on hand." She goes to sit on the couch while Callie retrieves a bottle of wine and two glasses before taking a seat beside the blonde. Remaining silent, she waits for her to start.

"I don't normally mention this to the women I date. To be completely honest, there haven't been many opportunities and of those opportunities, I didn't really want to. But after what happened recently, what you gave up for us, I want you to know everything. I want to tell you about this." She hands Callie a small spiral book.

Callie opens it to find a baby photo on the first page, framed with the name: Ashleigh, and all her birth information. Flipping through it quickly, she discovers that it's a scrapbook full of photos of two young blondes, as she skims over photos and the two age, Callie recognizes that the older of the two is her girlfriend. The two age years over the pages, and the book ends with a final photo that looks to be fairly recent. Callie skims over her girlfriend's features to take in those of the blonde in her arms. The girl looks to be in her late teens and shares the same complexion and coloring of Arizona – except the eyes, she quickly notices – the younger woman's eyes have a greyer hue to them, rather than the bold, bright blue of her girlfriend. They share the same joyful gleam in their expressions and are posed before a building that appears to be in the processes of renovations. Flipping back to the date on the first page, she realizes that the girl in the photo will be leaving her teenage years behind in a few short days. Taking a deep breath, she looks up at the blonde in anticipation.

"Clearly she means something to you."

"Her name is Ashleigh, and she's my daughter."

"Okay." Callie does some quick math in her head. "You were a teenager."

"About four hours shy of sixteen. Hell of a way to spend your sixteenth birthday, huh?"

"Why don't you ever tell the women you've dated about her?" Callie pours them each a glass of wine, sitting back to hear the answer.

"It's not something many women are willing to put up with. Heck, there aren't many men out there willing to date a single mom. And the ones that did find out about her, never lasted."

"Do I really want to know why?" At this, Arizona chuckles softly to herself, confusing the woman sitting across from her.

"Usually they failed the 'Ashleigh test'."

"Again, do I really want to know?"

"She could really pull off the puppy dog look. You know, wide-open, innocent expression, which she would pair with the question: 'Are you going to be my new mommy'?" Callie is unable to keep the sip of wine she just consumed from exiting through her nose at that comment. Arizona takes that as a good sign and continues. "The worst part was, she was ten before I started dating again. The last woman I seriously dated was when Ashleigh was 16, and it was those very eight words that got rid of her, too."

Placing her wine glass on the table, Callie scoots closer to the blonde, placing the scrapbook on the table as well.

"It would take a lot more than that to scare me off. Not that it wouldn't take me a second to recover, but it wouldn't scare me off."

"Good, because she knows about you. And she's made it abundantly clear that she wants to meet you when she's in Seattle this weekend."

"Wait-," Callie opens to the front page of the scrapbook and takes note of Ashleigh's birthday. "Your birthday is on Saturday."

"Yeah, but please don't make a big deal of it. Ashleigh and I have always kept it super low key. We have this one tradition, and then we usually spend the day just hanging out. I've already asked the Chief that both you and I be allowed the day off and he's agreed. If you want to join us, that is."

"Of course I want to join you. How much have you told her?"

"She knows that I'm seriously falling for you. As soon as I told her about your dad's visit, she said she wanted to meet you."

"Just so we're clear, the feeling is mutual. I can live without my Dad's money. It might be early, but at the moment, I don't want to see if I can live without you." Smiling broadly, Arizona leans in to give the younger woman a kiss, a kiss which slowly turns into several. Finally they break apart and stare into the others eyes, soft smiles gracing each of their faces.

Glancing at the clock, Callie groans as she notes the late hour. Noticing the hour herself, Arizona stands to leave, but is prevented from leaving when Callie steers her towards her room.

"Um, Callie-," She stutters out.

"It's late, and if you were to crash on your way home, I'd never forgive myself." Callie digs two pairs of sleep pants and two tank tops out of her drawer and hands one set to the older woman. "All we'll do is sleep." She assures her, before nudging the woman toward the bathroom. "There's an extra toothbrush under the sink. It's yours now."

Smiling, Arizona backs away toward the bathroom to change. Callie quickly changes herself before heading toward the bathroom to clean up. Knocking softly, she opens the door to see her girlfriend pulling down the top. Callie retrieves her toothbrush while Arizona digs out hers. Side-by-side they brush their teeth before rinsing and placing them in the holder. Arizona turns to leave while Callie stares at the brushes sitting together in the holder, smiling softly before leaving, flipping the switch as she leaves.

Entering the bedroom, Callie lets Arizona choose which side of the bed she wants before crawling in on the other side. Lying on her side, facing Arizona, she makes herself comfortable, pulling the covers up around them.

"Can I ask where Ashleigh is and what she does, or would that keep us up for the rest of the night?"

"She's studying engineering and art in Ireland."

"Study abroad?"

"No. She attends the University of Dublin. And _that_ story could last all night."

"Okay. Will you tell it to me later? I'd like to know about her."

"Absolutely. Good-night."

"Night."

* * *

Does anyone know what the name of the song was that was playing in the final scene in Izzie's room of last week's episode? I love it and want to know who sings it, so if anyone knows, please tell me?


	2. Breakfast

Alright, so I got a bunch of really sweet comments saying how much ya'll are loving this fic, and I do believe I've thanked everyone but I'm gonna comment here on two, cause one does need to be heard by all and it was made by a PM, and the other was posted anonymously. So, for my reader, Jade: Ashleigh isn't 16, she's a few days shy of 20; Arizona was 16 when Ashleigh was born. And for the PM: I read that Kaley Cuoco will be a guest star on the season finale, but wouldn't say who her character would be. So, in my mind, Kaley Cuoco would be playing Ashleigh.

Anyways, here's the second bit, and in the next chapter family will start to make their appearances known. I'm gonna change it up for the sister we actually know about, but for the two brothers I've written for Callie, I'm not totally happy with how the oldest turned out, but I'm not going to change it because it will serve for later in the story.

Wow, who knew that it would take so long to recover from finals and graduation celebration? That's right, yours truly is officially a college graduate, now I just need to figure out what to do, and maybe go see that new movie 'Post Grad' while I'm at it, maybe it will give me some ideas.

Okay, so normally I'm not one to delete and repost chapters, but after watching the finale, I thought up a slightly different story than the one I had and one that I like more. This was going to be the first story I've written that didn't have a character in the military, but after hearing that Arizona had a brother that died in Iraq, I decided to make some changes. Plus it gave me a much cooler way to explain how she came to have the name Arizona. Most have been stating that she was conceived in the state, and I admit that I was going to use that as well – and that was the line I used in Sisters Grace – but I decided to go for something different. And there will be a few other minor changes, but it won't be long, and I should have the next chapter up by tomorrow. It was gonna be up tonight, but I've got a funeral to attend to.

* * *

The following morning, Callie reaches out, seeking the embrace of the blonde in her sleep, finding purchase; wrapping her arm around Arizona's waist and pulling her closer. Arizona shifts in her sleep but doesn't wake. Burying her nose in the blonde's neck Callie allows herself to drift back into unconsciousness.

She wakes sometime later to an empty bed. Sitting up she hears the shower turn off, rubbing her eyes she turns to see Arizona emerge from her bathroom wrapped in a towel. When she sees that Callie is up, she smiles, sitting on the bed to give the woman a kiss.

"Morning."

"Good morning." Callie smiles broadly, returning the kiss. "So, when does Ashleigh arrive in Seattle?"

"Friday, I think her flight gets in around noon."

"I'm on call until noon."

"I know, don't worry. She's only in town a few days, she'll be leaving Sunday night."

"She's flying 6,000 miles for three days?"

"Our birthday is a big deal. And that's a story that will take a bit longer to tell."

"Okay. What time do you have to be at work?"

"Not until nine." Callie glances at the clock and sees that they still have three hours before they have to be in.

"Is that enough time to tell me why she goes to school in Ireland?"

"That's enough time for the Cliff Notes version. The full story requires visual aids that I don't have with me. So why don't you shower and get dressed while I make breakfast and I'll tell you the story while we're eating."

"Deal." Callie gives her a quick kiss before heading into the bathroom, while Arizona pulls on her clothes from last night.

* * *

Exiting her bedroom, Callie follows the scent of pancakes, bacon and coffee to the kitchen, where she finds Arizona setting the table for two.

"Wow." Callie stops to take in the sight, "Are you trying to butter me up for something? Because you really don't have to."

"No, I'm not trying to 'butter you up', I just enjoy cooking breakfast. When Ashleigh was younger, while I was attending medical school, I did my student rotations at night, and I usually got home just as she was waking up, so breakfast was the one time of the day that we were guaranteed 30 uninterrupted minutes together."

"That's sweet." At Arizona's insistence, Callie sits down and helps herself to a cup of coffee while Arizona finishes bringing everything to the table. Once she is seated, the pair fill their plates with food and glasses with juice before Callie starts the conversation.

"So, what kind of engineering is Ashleigh studying?"

"Structural." Arizona gets up to retrieve the scrapbook from last night. Flipping to the last photo, she taps the image. "This was taken last summer, I went to visit her. That building was the 'family church', as it were. Almost every generation of my family has gotten married in it. When you turn 12, we'd get taken there and told the story of the building's history in the family. The church is over 400 years old. The summer I took Ashleigh out there, there was a fire in the rectory that destroyed the building.

"It was years before the county decided on an architect and artist to rebuild it, because they wanted to be as original as possible. Hundreds of companies competed for the chance, and in the end, the county decided on a team of university students to do the rebuild, with the supervision of a company that was headed by alumnus of the university."

"Ashleigh." Callie figures out who one of the students was.

"And her best friend. They sat down together and wrote out the rebuild proposal as part of their entrance essay for school. Ashleigh's the engineer, Patrick is the artist. To ensure that they stuck it out together, they chose to minor in the other's major, so they would have a hand in every part of it together."

"And will they be the next generation of Robbins to get married there?"

"No." Arizona is resolute in her answer. Callie raises her eyebrows in silent question. "But yes, Ashleigh does want to get married there. But first she'll be finishing school, much to my father's dismay."

"Why?"

"He's not against women in the workforce, but he's old-fashioned enough to believe that a household should compose of a mother and father with children."

"So how would he react to us?"

"It took him awhile to get used to me. But it was more how he was raised than how he felt. Even if you don't agree with the Catholic teachings, it's hard to break away from what you were raised to believe. His mother, on the other hand, hasn't spoken to him since he told her that he accepted me. Which is sad, because they were really close before.

"Now that we know how your dad would react, what about the rest of your family?" Arizona changes the subject.

"I don't know. They'll have to find out for themselves why my father cut me off, because there's no way he'll swallow his pride long enough to tell them, even my mother."

"And how do you think they'll react?"

"My mom, I don't know. I think my brother's will be okay with it though. It's been awhile since they've gotten to play the big brother card. You know: 'Break her heart and we'll break your neck'."

"I hope they won't go that far with a woman."

"They'll threaten, I promise you that. As for them accepting it…I don't know, but they'll be more open then my father was. And my sister and I have always been really close before this, so I'm hoping that there's a good excuse for why she's ignoring me now."

"How many brothers do you have?"

"Two, one older and one younger. What about you? Do you have any siblings?" Arizona chuckles softly, with a slightly sarcastic undertone.

"Yeah, I've got a few."

"Care to elaborate? How many?"

"One older brother, one younger brother and one younger sister."

"Do all of you have state names?"

"No, but technically we weren't named after states."

"Care to explain?"

"I thought we were supposed to be talking about Ashleigh?"

"We were, but then you mentioned my family, thereby allowing the subject change."

"Alright. There's Tennessee, but everyone calls him Tommy, he's 37, then there's me, then there's Nevada, who's 34, and finally Ford, who is six years younger than Nevada."

"Thirty-seven, 36, and 34, was that planned?"

"Yes, they wanted more, but there were complications with Nevada and mom was told she couldn't have more kids, but then Ford came along."

"Is your mother a saint or your father a dictator?" Callie's smile let's Arizona know that she's joking.

"A little bit of both."

"What do they do?"

"Tommy is a lawyer, Nevada is a psychiatrist and Ford's a firefighter." Further conversation is halted when they hear a lock in the door and turn to see Christina enter, one hand over her eyes.

"Something wrong, Christina?" Callie questions her. Christina slowly separates her fingers to take in the living area. Satisfied with what she sees, she drops her hand.

"Just checking that everything's clean. Walking in to a trail of clothes to your bedroom once was bad enough. Good morning, Dr. Robbins."

"Good morning and you can call me Arizona."

"Whatever." Christina heads to her room to change. Callie looks to the clock and notices that they've only got half an hour to get to work.

"Well, good thing I live so close to the hospital." She picks up her plate and begins to clear the table.

"How did you and Christina come to be roommates? You two just seem so different."

"She's the least perky one in the hospital. Think, with Izzie I'd be falling asleep and waking up to the smell of baked goods; with Karev there'd probably be weights and other exercise crap around for me to break a leg on; Meredith would make me seem perkier than you; and George… well, enough said."

"Point taken. Come on."


	3. CJ

Here's the next chapter, short, but so are the next two, which will be up shortly. I need to make a few changes to what I planned for the following but, but it should be up by the weekend, so enjoy!

* * *

"You know, it's been awhile since I was the favored child. What happened?" Callie turns away from the chart she's reading to address the voice that spoke. Seeing the tall, handsome man with dark hair and eyes standing behind her, she throws her arms around him.

"What are you doing here, CJ? And does Dad know you're here?"

"No, but he refused to say what happened when he was out here. What happened? Uncle Matt stopped by my office yesterday afternoon and asked me why Dad asked him to have your trust fund split between Nick, Aria and mine's."

"After he attempted to kill George – which you will not do – and then my best friend, I introduced him to the new person I'm dating. I told him I was happy and he 'requested' that I return home to Miami and transfer to St. Mary's hospital. When I refused, he gave me an ultimatum: return home with him or lose my trust fund." Callie returns to the chart. "I know he's supported me my whole life, but he's never respected me, and last week just proved to me that he never would."

"So you cut him off. Does this mean that I won't get to meet this new someone?" Callie turns and fixes her brother with a hard glare. After a minute of it, he starts to squirm under his sister's gaze. Callie notices a flash of blonde off to the side, and turns her gaze to see Arizona staring at her with a look of worry. Callie returns her attention to her brother a fixes him with a hard look.

"Remember this: I didn't give Dad a second thought when I gave up my trust fund and cut him off, so don't for one second think that I won't do the same thing with you. I love you, I do, but I'm happy now and I seriously think that this relationship could be it for me."

"If you're happy, then I will do my best to be happy for you."

"Good." Callie flicks her wrist motioning someone forward. CJ turns to see Arizona appear by his sister's side.

"Arizona, this is my brother, CJ, CJ this is Arizona Robbins. This is who I'm dating." CJ's gaze moves between the two women a few times before settling on his sister and saying something to her in Spanish with an impish grin. Callie hides her grin and starts to smack him repeatedly with the chart, eventually allowing her smile to break through.

"YES! That is VERY. WRONG." Eventually she stops hitting him, allowing him to stand. Once he's composed himself, he pulls Arizona into a hug. She's surprised, but returns it.

"Very nice to meet you, Arizona."

"Likewise, CJ. Do I want to know what you just asked Calliope?"

"NO!" Callie speaks up before her brother can say anything. He's more shocked by the fact that his sister didn't object to being referred to by her full name.

"Wait, you threaten death if I call you Calliope, why don't you do it for her as well?"

"Because I don't mind it coming from her. How long are you in town for?"

"Not long, unfortunately. I've got a board meeting tomorrow. But when I spoke to Nick, he said that he was taking the first flight out that he could get. And you know he can afford to stay longer."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well, I'm sorry to say I can't stay any longer, but I had to talk to you. It was very nice to meet you, Arizona."

"And you."

"And I fully expect to see both of you for the fourth of July. Screw Dad, I want my baby sister there, and so will Lena. And you know you want to see your nieces."

"I'll be there." Callie folds at the mention of her brother's daughters.

"Good. Will you be there, Arizona?"

"If I can get the time off, absolutely."

"Good." CJ gives them both a hug before turning to leave. Entering the elevator, he turns and gives the two women a bright smile as the doors close.

"Was any of that an act?" Arizona questions Callie.

"No. CJ couldn't lie if his life depended on it. That was the truth."

"And Nick? Do you think he'll react the same way?"

"I honestly couldn't say." Callie gives her a small smile that Arizona returns.

"Do I want to know what he asked that caused you to start beating him?" Callie laughs sharply before turning to the blonde.

"He asked if it was wrong that he could picture the two of us together." Arizona turns a soft shade of pink in embarrassment, ducking her head so Callie couldn't see it.

"Okay then. Umm, I've got surgery in a few minutes…"

"Go, I'll see you at lunch."

"Okay." She gives Callie a quick kiss before heading off down the hall.


	4. Ashleigh

Here's the fisrt introduction of Ashleigh!

* * *

"Excuse me." Mark turns to find a young blonde standing on the opposite side of the nurse's desk.

"How can I help you?"

"Do you know where I can find Arizona Robbins?" Mark glances to the OR board.

"She is in surgery at the moment. Can I page her for you?"

"Ah, no, but do you know when she'll be out?"

"Barring any complications, shouldn't be much longer."

"Then do you know where I can find Callie Torres?"

"Someone say my name?" Callie comes up behind the woman, returning a chart to the nurse behind the counter.

"This young lady was just asking for you." Callie looks up and smiles in recognition.

"I could have sworn Arizona said you wouldn't be here until tomorrow."

"Yeah, I got Patrick to supervise so that I could get standby on an earlier flight. I'm Ashleigh, by the way."

"Callie." Callie sticks her hand out for a shake, but Ashleigh ignores it and draws her in for a hug that Callie returns.

"Nice to meet you." Ashleigh glances back at Mark, who's staring in wonder at the two women. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah, he's just wondering who you are."

"Oh," She turns to Mark to introduce herself, but is interrupted.

"Ashleigh? What are you doing here?" The trio turns to see Arizona standing outside the doors leading to the OR. Ashleigh drops her bag and throws her arms around her mother.

"I like her," she whispers in her ear, causing Arizona to smile softly. She draws herself back to answer the question. "And I got Patrick to cover for me so that I could get an earlier flight out and spend an extra day. If that's alright?"

"Of course, but I'm on call until tomorrow morning."

"That's cool. I've got friends at UDUB that I need to talk to." They turn when Mark clears his throat obnoxiously garnering their attention.

"You've met Callie, I presume. This is Mark Sloan, he's the Head of Plastics here, and Callie's best friend."

"Ashleigh, pleasure to meet you." For Mark, she does offer a hand to shake, which he takes while studying the two women.

"Likewise."

"I'm sorry that I can't spend time with you today, but I've got three back to back surgeries today."

"No worries. I was just gonna go to the house, take a shower then head over to UDUB. I need to talk to Dr. Maxwell."

"Alright, I'll see you tonight then." They share one last hug before separating. Ashleigh retrieves her bag, gives Callie a hug as well before leaving.

* * *

Super short, I know, but you're getting three chapters at once to make up for it!


	5. Nick

....and the final of Callie's brothers. And for those wondering, the language I'm gonna have Callie, Nick and Aria speaking with each other is Greek. Cause I looked it up, both Callie's full first and middle name are Greek, so I made the others the same way, and it will make more sense as I go further into the story.

* * *

"So you're not going to tell me who she was?" Mark and Callie sit down at the table that Lexie, Derek and Meredith are already seated at, posing the same question for the countless time.

"No, I won't. It's not my place."

"When has that ever stopped you before?"

"Wow." Lexie interrupts, staring off to the entrance of the cafeteria. Mark, Derek and Meredith all look in the direction to see what's gotten her attention. Entering the hospital is a young man dressed sharply in suit pants, a white shirt and a loosened tie, suit jacket thrown over his arm. Meredith shares her sentiment at the attractiveness of the man, and the sisters look to Callie for confirmation to see that she's no longer seated. Looking around for her, they spot her just as the young man they'd been admiring picks her up and spins her around in a bear hug. Laughing at something he said, Callie pulls away, but keeps hold on his hand, leading him toward the table she'd just left.

As they get closer, the others at the table stare shamelessly, wishing that they understood what was being said, though Mark recognizes that it's not Spanish, as she was prone to the previous week when her father was visiting.

Remembering their audience, Callie switches back to English, turning to introduce her guest to everyone.

"Nick this is Mark, Lexie, Derek, and Meredith. Guys, this is my brother, Nick."

"Pleasure to meet all of you." Nick greets each of them before turning his attention back to his sister. "Is there somewhere we can talk, or do you want to explain to me here why my trust fund suddenly doubled overnight?"

"Dad cut me off because he doesn't approve of who I'm dating." Callie states while returning to her seat and starting on her lunch. "Are you staying?"

"I had enough of hospital food as a kid, thank you. Why doesn't he approve of who you're dating?"

"Well, I've got surgery." Mark makes a hasty exit, which prompts Derek, Meredith and Lexie to leave as well.

"You sure know how to clear a room." Callie motions for him to sit down. "What have you heard?"

"There was a message from CJ on my voicemail when I got off the plane. He said that the new person in your life was amazing and that he loved them, and if I didn't then he was going to be taking your side in the ensuing family feud."

"Really, well then it's good to know that I've got someone on my side."

"Who is this new guy? What's so wrong with him?"

"Girl." Callie corrects him, "and she's a pediatric surgeon here." She waits for the news to sink in, recognizing when it does.

"'She'? You're dating a woman?" Nick's voice remains calm.

"Yes."

"Are you happy?"

"Yes."

"Okay. What's her name?" Nick reaches over and swipes a few of Callie's fries, prompting a smile from his sister.

"Arizona." Nick doesn't realize that Callie is staring off behind him, where said blonde is standing.

"Interesting name. How'd she wind up with it?"

"I was named for my grandfather." A new voice enters the conversation, Nick stands in surprise, turning to greet the person attached to the voice. Arizona sticks a hand out in greeting.

"Arizona Robbins."

"Nicodemus Torres, Nick." Nick takes the offered hand and moves to a seat across from Callie, allowing Arizona to take the seat next to her.

"Pleasure to meet you. CJ mentioned that you'd be able to stay for awhile, how long will you be in town?"

"Not as long as I'd like, unfortunately. But I can stay for the weekend, at least. And I've already got a hotel room, so you don't have to put me up."

"Good because I live in a two bedroom and the couch isn't that comfortable."

The siblings share a smile while Arizona looks on from her own plate.

* * *

Super short, I know, but you're getting three chapters at once to make up for it!


	6. Birthday celebration

Okay, the Irish Historical Society? no idea if there really is something like that, but let's pretend that there is. Harry Clarke? Real. As are the facts about him. The facts about old methods of staining wood? Also real. The rare book room at my alma mater was designed in period techniques, though I'm a little fuzzy on the details. Everything about stained glass? Also true. At least provided that the websites that I found everything at are accurate. So if there are any art/irish history majors out there, reading this, please don't hurt me too badly in reviews. Oh yeah, and the bits about UC-San Diego, I have no idea if they really have an NROTC program, but since 95% of that town is military, we'll pretend that it does.

* * *

"Morning." Callie grunts in response to Ashleigh's perky greeting, though she smiles softly along with it.

"It's nine o'clock, how can you still be tired?"

"Calliope's more of an 'anytime before noon is acceptable' kind of gal." Arizona comments, dumping her gear in the entry hall before greeting her girlfriend with a kiss. Ashleigh looks to the side as the kiss deepens briefly. "Morning."

"Good morning, happy birthday; to both of you."

"Thank you for reminding me that I can no longer blame my behavior on teenage angst."

"Now it's just plain old stupidity, I know." The three share a quick laugh before getting back to arranging their things to leave. "So, what's the plan for this weekend?"

"We are taking the ferry across the sound to Bainbridge Island where we will set up camp and then its 36 hours of camping, hiking and climbing." Arizona turns to share an enthusiastic high-five with her daughter before turning to gauge Callie's reaction. The younger woman's expression could be easily interpreted as disdain, but Arizona knows that the caffeine just hasn't kicked in yet.

"Awesome." Ashleigh looks crestfallen that Callie isn't sharing in their enthusiasm, but Arizona is quick to reassure her that Callie's coffee hasn't started working.

"Come on," Arizona picks up two of the bags, while Callie and Ashleigh grab the remaining and head out the door.

* * *

"And, done!" Ashleigh takes a moment to admire the speed at which she set up her single tent before turning to the two older women. After a moment to fully digest the scene before her, she bursts out in laughter. Arizona is trying to direct Callie, who is holding two of the poles steady, yet somehow one of them managed to hook itself into the collar of the blonde's shirt and she's now trying to get unhooked while also not ripping her shirt. Callie's attempts to disengage the pole only seem to be making things worse. Taking pity on them, Ashleigh moves forward to assist, quickly getting her mother unhooked; taking over for Callie in the set-up, the mother-daughter duo have the couples tent set up and anchored to the ground in minutes. Ashleigh turns to Callie with a twinkle in her eye.

"I take it you're not the camping type?"

"It's been awhile. And camping in Miami never really required a tent. The weather was always too nice to need one."

"Right. Well then, hang around the Lofton clan awhile longer and I guarantee you that will change." Ashleigh begins to make a wood pile in the stone circle left behind by previous campers in preparation for the night. She's oblivious to Callie's look of confusion until the older woman speaks up.

"Lofton?" She looks between the two blondes, wondering where the name comes from. Arizona is the one to speak up.

"Robbins is my mother's name. I started using it after my first semester in college. Eventually I came to be known by it and never picked up my father's name, at least not professionally."

"Why wouldn't you use your father's name?"

"Chance we can shelve this conversation until dinner time?" Ashleigh speaks up. "I'd like to scout some good places for rock-climbing tomorrow."

"Sure thing." Ashleigh heads toward the trail at her mother's signal, leaving the two behind for a moment alone.

"I will tell you, it just takes a bit of explanation."

"Okay." Callie smiles and takes the small bag Arizona hands her. The blonde takes a separate larger bag that has some ropes, harnesses and carabineers hanging from it before the pair head off after Ashleigh.

* * *

"So, how's the restoration coming along, Ash?" The trio is sitting around the now burning campfire, eating dinner.

"Slowly. We've got the measurements for the windows, now we just need to build them, but we're running into a few roadblocks with the Irish Historical Society. Did you know that one of the windows in the church was designed by Harry Clarke?"

"Let's pretend that Calliope has no idea who that is."

"And you?" Ashleigh smiles impishly. "He's one of Ireland's most famous and well known stained glass artists. He died almost 80 years ago, but his name is still known in the country. There are few churches in Ireland that don't have one of his windows.

"Anyways, we've got drawings of the window designs and we're doing our best to recreate them, but the Historical Society is being picky about it. They want it to be done in period techniques, techniques that we have to learn if we want to do it ourselves and not have to hire an outside artist. And it would be much cheaper for us to learn the techniques than it would be for us to find someone else."

"How hard can it be to make stained glass in period techniques?" Callie questions. Ashleigh stares at her as if she's crazy.

"How hard would it be to perform an operation using anesthetic techniques of the Civil War?"

"Considering all that was used then was ether, almost impossible. Ether only knocks a person out for a few hours, and unless the patient is positioned on their back, it'd be difficult to continually anesthetize them. And yes, I'm starting to see your point."

"Some of the period techniques aren't too difficult. The hardest part thus far has been making the nails."

"Making?!"

"Yeah, the whole church has to be built as if we were living 400 years ago. That includes shaping the nails with casts, and staining the wood in the same manner." Ashleigh's features turn slightly disgusted. "Which involves almost every bit of an adult cow; we boil the blood and fat along with a few other bits, and mix it with sand in order for the wood to absorb the 'paint'. We can't even use electric tools. Everything has to be done by hand.

"Patrick was looking into learning the older methods of stained glass blowing when I left. We have to use the same soda-lime-silica mix of the medieval times complete with the same metallic oxide chemicals used to produce the colors. The 'cylinder method' technique of forming the blown glass before flattening into sheets, cutting the sheets and assembling them – it is ridiculously time intensive and consuming. It makes me very thankful that art is my minor and not my major. I can handle using older methods of calculation and building techniques; I made it through AP Calculus without a graphing calculator. I still don't use anything beyond a five-factor calculator. I can handle all that. But hand-blowing glass and shaping it… No." Ashleigh shakes her head as if trying to displace the facts in her brain.

"Whatever, the next two days are meant to be relaxing. And on that note I'm going to sleep. Those were some killer spots we found earlier and I want to be well rested. Goodnight." Ashleigh zips up her tent, leaving the two doctors alone.

"So…" Callie starts off. "Lofton?" She reminds Arizona of her earlier promise.

"I'm a Navy brat. I lost track of the number of times we moved. We were in San Diego when I graduated from high school and started college. That town has a Navy base and a Marine base, and my dad was pretty high up in the Naval community. Add to it that UC-San Diego has an NROTC program…I lasted about a week on campus before someone recognized my last name and started asking me if I was planning on following my father and brother into the Navy.

"Even if it weren't for the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy the military has, I still wouldn't have joined. I knew from a young age that the military wasn't for me. By the end of my first semester I was so sick of people asking why I wasn't in NROTC that I asked my father to have my name changed in the school records. I even changed dorms so I wouldn't have to answer any questions."

"So Arizona Lofton becomes Arizona Robbins? And no one figured out the first name was the same?"

"Apparently not. Anyways, all my professor recommendations were about Arizona Robbins, so I entered med school as Arizona Robbins, and eventually I decided to stick it out. It's never come up…in a relationship, it's never come up, and I've never mentioned it…never really felt the need to mention it.

"Ashleigh uses Lofton, I'm the only one that doesn't."

Callie thinks back on something Arizona mentioned during her story and hesitantly questions, "When did you come out?"

"It was just before my 17th birthday."

"How did your family react?" Arizona smiles fondly in remembrance before answering.

"I think my dad was more upset that all four of his kids wouldn't be following him into the military than he was that I was gay. My brother claimed that I ruined all threesome fantasies he ever had, something about my face replacing one of the women every time." The pair share a laugh, remembering CJ's reaction.

"Nivvie, Nevada, she asked me if she could study me for a psych project she was doing for AP Psychology, and later she expanded that into her undergrad senior thesis on homosexuality and the military. Ford was only eight at the time, he didn't really understand much of it. He was as hard-core as it comes when it came to the military when he was a teenager and he managed to get into a few fights supporting me against a few other Navy brats that didn't agree with my lifestyle. He always was my big protector." She smiles fondly at that last comment.

"Was?"

"Yeah, he died two years ago in a fire. We better get to bed." Callie recognizes the brush off for what it is and follows her into the tent.

* * *

Okay, so the next chapter is almost done, and it deals with the introduction of Aria. But there's a challenge I'm issuing: Nick asked how Arizona came to have that name, and all I said was that she was named for her grandfather. So here's the deal, and I'll even give two options for answering: If you can tell me how the Lofton kids got their names, I'll work the story into the next chapter; or, if someone can tell me why Tennessee Lofton is called Tommy, I'll put the story of how they were named in the next chapter.

[Cue Jeopardy music]

I'll even give you a hint:

What is the history of ___ ___?

What is the birth name of ___ ___?


	7. Aria

So, Mari got the bulk of it right! At least the first part. No one got why Tennessee is called Tommy, but that's not something too many would know, unless you're like me and enjoy learning _really random _information. Anyways, here we go! Oh yeah, the whole technology thing...I'm sorry to say, that's me.

* * *

"Hold the elevator!"

Arizona quickly stops the doors from closing, allowing the woman that called out to enter. Turning, the woman moves to select the proper floor, stopping when she sees that the one she wanted is already illuminated.

"Thanks."

"No problem." Arizona returns her attention to the journal she's holding, ignoring the woman. Once the elevator reaches their floor, Arizona allows the woman to exit before leaving herself and going in the opposite direction, barely giving the woman a second glance.

* * *

"So, is there any decent coffee in this city?" Callie turns at the question posed behind her and breaks into a restrained smile when she sees who is standing behind her.

"Eh, depends on where you look." Callie closes her chart before granting the woman her full attention. "What are you doing here?"

"Not quite the greeting I was hoping for." The brunette poses a hand on each hip, staring down the doctor. "Especially since I haven't seen you in over a year."

"You've been ignoring my calls for the past month, why should I greet you any differently?"

"You've been trying to call me?" The woman is truly confused. "Sorry, my phone… stopped working a few weeks back. I took the opportunity to have a vacation."

"Which one was it this time?"

"Mediterranean. I can't help it if all my phones are attracted to water."

"You realize that is the seventh phone you've lost to a body of water, right?"

"Eighth, actually. Why were you trying to call me?"

"Because I needed someone on my side. But I stopped when the boys decided to be there."

"You didn't seriously think that I wouldn't be on your side, did you?"

"Well, I know how much power dad wields, so yeah, I thought you'd be on his side."

"I haven't spoken to dad since I left on this latest trip, almost eight months ago. And even before then, we never really spoke, remember? He stopped speaking to me unless he absolutely had to when I announced I wanted nothing to do with the business. The only reason he continued to speak to you was because medicine is a respectable endeavor. So what did you do to cause him to stop speaking to you?"

"Not only to stop speaking to me, but to take away my trust fund."

"And you've finally joined the club. So what did you do?"

"I'm dating a woman."

"Okay, so why did he cut you off?"

"Because I'm dating a woman."

"That shocked him? Come on CIT, I've been waiting for you to make that announcement for years."

"WHAT?!" Callie's exclamation catches the attention of every doctor within fifty feet, including Mark and Arizona at the end of the hall.

* * *

"What's going on?" Arizona looks over to see Callie staring at the woman she shared the elevator with earlier. With a hand to her arm, Mark stops her from joining them.

"Wait. Let's see what happens."

* * *

"You're not surprised to hear this?"

"Are you kidding me? With the revolving door of men you had in college, yeah, I've been expecting this. What?" Callie's head drops into her hand for a moment before she looks up and throws her arms around the woman's neck, holding tight.

"Whoa, CIT, what's up?" She throws her arms around the surgeon's waist reassuringly rubbing her back.

"You have no idea how good it sounds to know that. Kind of disturbing, but reassuring."

"Seriously? Okay. So does that mean that you'll let me write this in the next book?"

Rolling her eyes, Callie backs away from the woman, smacking her shoulder in exasperation.

* * *

"Well, that looks like a good sign." Seeing Callie grant the woman a reassuring smile, Arizona breaks away from Mark to join the pair at the nurse's station.

* * *

Callie jumps slightly when she feels a hand at her back, though relaxes when she turns and sees her girlfriend standing behind her.

"Aria, this is Arizona, my girlfriend; this is my sister, Aria."

"Hi, nice to meet you." Arizona is slightly cool in her greeting, which does not escape Callie's notice.

"Likewise. Any particular reason why you're acting so cold towards me?" Callie groans at her sister's directness, though there is a smile on her face.

"Besides the fact that you've been ignoring her ever since your father found out?"

"Ah, right, clearly you haven't explained to her the issue that technology has with me?" Aria grins at her sister.

"Don't you mean the problem that _you_ have with technology? 'Cause I'm fairly certain technology hasn't reached the point where it has feelings."

"Seriously, CIT, how many pieces of technology have you known to stick around me? If I hung out with John Connor, the machines would be toast in seconds." Callie laughs freely at the comment. During this entire conversation, Arizona is glancing between the two, studying the similarities and differences between the sisters.

Where Callie's hair is a wavy, black, and her eyes a chocolate brown, Aria's hair is a lighter brown with messy curls, and her eyes are a deep, emerald color. Aria skin has an olive tone to it, though on her, it looks like a tan, not a natural tone. The two women have the same smile which Aria seems to give out freely and allow to reach her eyes, allowing a sparkle to shine through. The only physical feature the sisters share is height; Arizona takes in the sturdy boots that Aria is wearing, moving upwards, taking in the cargo pants, tank top, khaki jacket and messenger bag.

"So how long are you in town for?" Arizona is taken out of her musings by the question posed by her girlfriend.

"I'm not sure. Until I hear back from Angie about the latest draft, I suppose. I mailed it to her just a couple days ago, so I've probably got at least a week before I hear from her."

"Draft?" Arizona speaks up at last.

"Aria is a writer. Angie is her editor."

"Oh, what do you write?"

"Just novels." Aria doesn't elaborate, even though her sister scoffs at her modesty.

"Try best-selling novels. She's being modest." Callie smiles in pride at her sister. "I've got all of her books at my place if you want to read any of them."

"Sounds good." She's prevented from elaborating when her pager goes off and she's pulled away for a surgery. Leaving Aria with a smile and Callie with a quick kiss to the cheek.

"I like her." Aria is simple in her response.

"You're a best-selling writer, and all you can come up with is 'I like her'?"

"Why BS what can be stated simply? Who's the hottie that's been staring at us this whole time?" Aria motions behind Callie to Mark, who's been watching with interest the entire time.

"Mark Sloan, best friend."

"Nice to meet you." Mark smiles at the younger Torres in greeting.

"Likewise."

* * *

"Wait, you're Aria Taylor?" Arizona turns in disbelief, holding one of Aria's books in each hand. The younger woman accepts the glass of wine from her sister before answering.

"Yup."

"Why? Are you now familiar with her books?" Callie takes a seat beside her sister.

"Familiar? Are you kidding me? My siblings and I love her books." She returns her attention to Aria. "My brother, Tommy always said that _13_ was what got him through his first overseas tour. It took him awhile to figure out what the title meant."

Aria laughs in response. "Yeah, it took a lot of people a bit to figure that out. That was the first book I wrote."

"And it was the only one that wasn't based on your own experiences." Callie adds. Arizona returns the books to the shelves before taking her own seat beside Callie.

"Wait, all your books are based on real life?"

"Yup."

"Except _13_?"

"Yeah. That was based on my husband's experiences."

"How long have you been married?"

"We got married ten years ago…and I've been widowed for eight and half."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I'd imagine Callie never mentioned it."

"May I ask what happened?"

"He was a Marine. Six hours home from his first tour and he was hit head on by a drunk driver; died instantly."

"I'm sorry."

"Thank you. Anyways, he wrote home one day about half way through training likening himself and training to that of POWs and when he got home I presented him with the draft of the book. I used my letters and the letters to his family to write it. He made a few minor changes, but he mostly laughed through the entire thing. His brother was working for a publishing company at the time, presented it for printing and has been my publisher ever since."

"And ever since she's been running from the world." Callie supplied.

"Yup. Why do you think I chose the job that I did. Being a journalist guarantees you the opportunity to travel. And I can claim work, and only you, David and Angie know that I'm running.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Callie allows the topic change, though Aria recognizes the look in her sister's eyes: this conversation is far from over.

"A couple months."

"Clearly you've met Dad, have you met CJ and Nick?"

"Last month. Their trust fund doubled overnight and they wanted to know why."

"And dad refused to tell them."

"Yup. They were okay with it."

"Why wouldn't they be? We all just want you to be happy, CIT."

"Why do you call her, 'CIT'?" Arizona jumps in.

"It's my initials." Callie answers.

"Don't you and your siblings have nicknames for each other?"

"Of course. What's Calliope's nickname for you?"

"Snot face." The sisters answer simultaneously, laughing at Arizona's reaction. Callie wraps an arm around her reassuringly.

"That's one of those things that doesn't have a real explanation."

"What about you? What do your siblings do?"

"Tommy is a lawyer and Nevada is a psychiatrist."

"And their nicknames?"

"Tommy. And Nivvie, but that's clearly more of a shortening than a real nickname."

"So what's Tommy's real name?"

"Tennessee."

"Which leads me to my next question-,"

"I was named for my grandfather, Tennessee and Nevada were named for his older and younger brothers." Arizona anticipates the question and answers it before it can be asked.

"Again, how? Why? Did they die in those states? Conceived there?"

"They all died at Pearl Harbor. My grandfather on the USS _Arizona_, his older brother on the USS _Tennessee_, and his younger brother on the USS _Nevada_."

"And what about Ford?" Callie asks.

"Ford Island was the base where the three ships were moored off of."

"So how do you get Tommy from Tennessee?"

"Tennessee got teased a lot growing up – we all did – but he once claimed his name wasn't so bad if he shared it with a famous playwright – granted he was a crazy playwright, but still famous. Then he found out that Tennessee Williams' real name was Thomas Lanier… and thus, Tommy was born."

"Okay. So, a lawyer, and two doctors…your parents must be proud."

"They are, but more so because we're happy. They don't care so much about what we do or who we work for."

A steady beeping noise is heard from the vicinity of the front door, causing Arizona to get up to investigate. Taking a moment to read the message on her pager, she turns with an apologetic look.

"Go." Callie reassures her. Grabbing her coat and bag, Arizona throws them one more apologetic glance before heading out.

"Sooo…" Aria turns back to her sister. "Is the sex better?"

Aria barely reacts when she's suddenly covered in a fine mist of red wine.


	8. putting the past to rest

Okay, so I didn't want to jump straight into the introduction of Arizona's family, and I wanted one of them to be pregnant when they showed up in Miami for July 4th, so even though this isn't quite what I wanted, it was what came out when I sat down to work. So it's a filler, but at the same time it is kind of necessary. Plus with the fics coming out about the return of Erica, I thought I'd put in my two cents as well. And I've been toying with the idea of bringing her back for something more medical related, so maybe this will prompt that as well. Oh well, I'm not totally thrilled with how this turned out, so if no one likes it, don't be shy in telling me so. Oh yeah, I liked George and am not the slightest bit happy that he's not returning next season.

* * *

Three months had passed since the day Callie had received the blessing and support from her younger sister.

The new batch of interns had taken their intern exams, and most had passed.

Rather than grant the two weeks of vacation time to Callie, Dr. Webber had offered her the opportunity to attend a week-long medical conference in San Francisco; and understanding all that the pair had been through, offered Arizona the opportunity to attend with her. In the end, it turned out to be a group outing, with Mark, Lexie, Meredith and Derek joining the couple.

Rather than fly down, the group chose to rent an SUV and drive the 772 miles together.

* * *

Slowly coming to a wakened state, Callie looks over to the clock to see that she has about a half hour before the wake-up call she'd scheduled the previous night was due. After failing to fall back asleep, Callie leans back, staring up at the ceiling, contemplating the changes that had occurred in the recent months. She's pulled out of her musings by an arm snaking across her stomach and turns to meet her girlfriend's gaze.

"What's going on in that brain of yours?" Arizona's voice is surprisingly clear considering she'd just woken up, but Callie pays that little mind.

"Just thinking."

"Good thoughts I hope." Arizona turns on her side, smiling softly when Callie does the same, mirroring her position with one arm under her head, the other around the blonde.

"Some good, some…just thoughts."

"Anything you want to share?" Callie sighs deeply, gathering her thoughts before answering.

"Just thinking about how much my life has changed this year. A year ago I was happily married to George and we were trying to have a kid." Arizona remains silent at this revelation. "Then he cheated on me, we got divorced, even though I was willing to try and make it work. And in my attempts to overcome the end of my marriage, I met someone that managed to become my best friend, even though that _rarely_ happens. And then she became so much more than my best friend, which was _not_ something that I was expecting; and then she left. And now the two people that I hated most in the world a year ago are gone, and I wish for nothing more than them to be here with us."

"But George isn't gone, Calliope."

"Right, because an assisted living facility is just the way a 27-year-old man wants to exist in this world."

"He could come back, you know that. And at least he's got someone by his side. I hear Amanda refuses to leave unless absolutely necessary."

"Yeah, but still…last year, I was looking to the future, thinking that in one year I'd be where I always thought I should be at that age; and now I'm looking back, wondering what happened to mess it all up."

"Are you saying that you don't like where you're at?" Though the blonde attempts to conceal the hurt, a little works its way through, prompting Callie to pull the woman closer in reassurance.

"I'm saying that I'm not where I always imagined I'd be, but that doesn't mean that I don't like where I'm at. You have no idea how unbelievably happy you make me. For once I feel like I don't have to work at happiness… that I deserve it without having to work for it."

"Everyone deserves happiness, Calliope. Without the feeling of whether or not they think they deserve it, everyone deserves it.

"Why don't you tell me some of the happy thoughts you had." Arizona tries to steer the conversation away from the alley of depression it was going towards. Callie attempts to move away in avoidance, but Arizona holds tight, meeting her gaze, waiting. Eventually Callie answers, though the response is halting, and it takes a few minutes to get it out.

"A year ago, George and I were trying to have a kid… I figured by the time I finished out maternity leave, my residency would be over and I'd be able to set my own hours, therefore, I wouldn't be missing out on my kid's life… I figured it was a good time. Then George and Izzie happened."

"I thought this was supposed to be a happy thought?" Arizona's tone is slightly teasing, slightly questioning.

"Degrees of separation, Arizona." Callie smiles gently before continuing, tightening her hold with an almost desperation. "I wanted kids with George so badly. I still want kids, I just wonder how I could possibly have wanted them so badly with him compared to how badly I now want them with you."

Taking advantage of her girlfriend's shock, Callie pulls herself out of the blonde's embrace and quickly enters the bathroom, hoping to avoid the potential unsavory reaction of her girlfriend.

The sound of the door shutting pulls Arizona out of her stupor and she quickly follows the path Callie took across the room. Stopping short at the sound of the phone ringing, she quickly answers it and thanks the concierge for the wake-up call before continuing on her original path. Hesitantly she tries the door knob, relieved to find it unlocked and slowly opens the door. Shutting it, she comes up behind the taller woman, wrapping her arms around her waist and resting her chin on her shoulder.

"There are a few reasons why I chose peds. I had a great pediatrician, even though it was a little weird that Ashleigh and I saw the same doctor for two years. But also, when I realized that I was gay, I was convinced that Ashleigh was going to be my only child. I figured, peds would allow me the opportunity to treat every child like they were my own. Despite how badly I wanted more of my own, I had pretty much given up on the possibility of having more… then you came along." Callie looks up and meets the blonde's gaze in the mirror before turning around. Taking this as a good sign, Arizona continues.

"You have no idea how badly I want kids with you also…"

"But…" Callie prompts.

"But… you've got some things to work through before we consider starting a family."

"Like my parents. I know."

"I was thinking more like Erica." This stops Callie short, slowly she turns her gaze to the shorter woman, who allows a brief smile to grace her features before continuing.

"People talk, where we work, people talk. I know how suddenly Erica left, and I'm guessing that the two of you never really had a chance for closure. Maybe I'm arrogant enough to believe that you two never would have had a family together, or that you two might not have lasted. But you do need to gain some real closure on that relationship before ours can truly continue past what we have now."

"You're okay with that? With me tracking down my ex and unearthing all the long-buried emotions?"

"No, not really. But I want to be with you. And I know that as long as all those emotions remain just buried, and not fully laid to rest… there's always going to be that pink elephant in the room with us."

Callie leans forward to take Arizona's lips with her own. The kiss remains chaste, conveying an acceptance of the situation before them. They're broken apart by the sound of someone knocking on the bedroom door, followed by Mark's voice rousing them out of bed.

"Get in the shower, I'll take care of him." Arizona breaks away with a soft smile and a quick kiss, allowing Callie to get ready.

* * *

"Well, that seemed like a colossal waste of time." Meredith sits down at the table next to her husband after the first morning of lectures. "I can't believe we have another week of these."

"Personally I vote for attending the lectures in the morning and sight-seeing in the afternoon." Everyone is shocked by Lexie's suggestion. "What? I'm willing to forgo a little education, especially when I agree that this is a colossal waste of time. So, all those in favor of ditching the afternoon lectures and having a little fun?" Lexie raises her hand and looks around the table as Meredith, Derek, Callie and Arizona quickly raise theirs as well. The group looks to Mark and sees that he's not even paying attention, but staring off at something in the distance. "Hello? Mark?" Lexie hits his arm to gain his attention.

"What?! I'm in!" His gaze reverts back to whatever he was staring at before going back to Callie. "Um, Torres…" Callie looks up expectantly.

"Yes?" She doesn't get a response, which prompts her to look to the direction Mark was earlier. Almost immediately, she sees what caught his attention; however, before she can look away, the person spots them and heads toward the table with only a moment's hesitation. Arizona gazes on curiously as the others at the table look down nervously once they notice who grabbed the ortho and plastic surgeon.

"Sloan, Shepherd, Drs. Grey… Callie," Erica Hahn greets them as she approaches the table. Meredith is the only one willing to speak up.

"Actually it's singular Grey and Drs. Shepherd, now." Her smile is tight towards the former Head of Cardiothoracics, which doesn't escape the blonde's notice.

Hoping to diffuse the situation a bit, Erica turns toward Arizona to introduce herself.

"Hi, Erica Hahn." Arizona hesitates before accepting the offered hand with her usual warmth.

"Arizona Robbins,"

"Nice to meet you. So-"

Further conversation is halted as a bell rings, notifying of the start of the next presentation. At a glance from Callie, Mark pulls Lexie to her feet, motioning towards the Shepherds to stand as well.

"I think one more lecture wouldn't kill us." Arizona leaves with the group with only a reassuring squeeze to the younger woman's shoulder.

"Well, glad to see that I still have the ability to clear a table." Erica comments, nervously taking a seat at Callie's signal.

"Yeah. So…how have you been?"

"Great. You?"

"Well. Do you work here?" Callie motions to the structure of Bayside Hospital behind them.

"No, I actually work at Berkley Medical Center on the other side of the city. So, Grey and Shepherd finally tied the knot?"

"Yeah, about four months ago."

"Sloan seems well. I'm surprised that he left you alone though."

"Why? We're just friends."

"You sleep with all your male friends?"

"I was scared; not ready to out myself quite as proudly as you were. I'm sorry that I hurt you, but we'll call ourselves even after you left me without a single word. Look," Callie takes a deep breath in preparation. "We were friends, long before we ever became a couple and I do miss that. Is there any chance we can forgive and forget and attempt to go back to that time?"

"Honestly?" Callie nods. "I'd like that, but it'll take awhile."

"Sounds fair. So, got anyone new in your life?"

"Yeah, actually. Her name's Maggie, she's the Head of Cardiology at BMC. You?"

"Arizona. She's a Peds attending."

"You're dating a pediatrician?"

"Yeah, trust me, I've heard it all. I think the greatest disbelief in the relationship is simply how perky she is next to me."

"Right, so how is everyone else at Seattle Grace?"

"Good. Bailey was made a General surgery attending."

"And the ex-interns?" Callie hesitates slightly.

"Um, Karev and Stevens got married, about four and half months ago."

"And how's that going for them?"

"Stevens died two weeks later. She was diagnosed with Malignant Melanoma that spread to her skin, liver and brain. The chemotherapy she was on weakened her heart to the point that it eventually just gave out."

"Dare I ask how Karev's handling that?"

"He pretty much lives at the hospital now."

"What about O'Malley?"

"He was forced to leave the program right around the time that Izzie died. He saved a woman from being hit by a bus and wound up being dragged half a block before the bus stopped. He was actually a John Doe for almost a day. Anyways, he survived, barely, but he survived. He's at an assisted living facility now."

"And the woman he saved?"

"Went back to school for Physical Therapy and took an internship at the facility George is at. She doesn't leave his side unless it's absolutely necessary."

"This makes me afraid to ask how Yang is doing."

"She's still aiming for Cardio, and she's dating the new trauma attending. I think you met him, Owen Hunt?"

"Wasn't he that soldier that came in with one of the guys from that limo accident right after we… umm…"

"Yeah, he came back a few weeks later when he got out of the Army."

"Nice. So otherwise… things are going well for you?"

"Well as they can be. My family knows that I'm dating a woman."

"How did that go?"

"Well, my dad disowned me, as far as I know, so did my mother, because she hasn't spoken to me since my dad found out. My older brother asked – jokingly – if it was wrong that he could picture the two of us together. My sister questioned how the sex was. And my younger brother commented on her unusual name before continuing on with the conversation.

"My siblings are letting my father believe that they aren't speaking to me with the hope that he'll come around, but they all support me. I honestly think my younger brother loves Arizona more than he loves me. What about you? Have you told your family yet?"

"Yeah, my sister teaches at Berkley, we ran into each other my first day in town. She's actually the one that introduced me to Maggie, she's engaged to her younger brother. My parents… I think they were expecting it or something, because they didn't really react." At this moment, Erica's pager goes off. After glancing at it quickly, she moves to leave.

"Sorry, I'm on call. Listen…why don't you and the others come by for dinner tonight?"

"I'll mention it, but we've got reservations."

"Right, some other night then. I'll see you later, Callie." Erica moves in for a brief hug before quickly releasing the younger woman and leaving.

Callie takes her seat again, waiting for the others to get out of the lecture. She doesn't wait long before someone joins her. Without having to look, she reaches out for her girlfriend's hand.

"So…how did it go?" Callie finally looks up to see the blonde gnawing on her bottom lip nervously.

"Well, do you want to go first, or should I? Since you had Ashleigh." Arizona merely lifts an eyebrow in question. "It went well. Better than I thought it would go. We both agreed that we miss the friendship we had and decided to stay in touch. And she invited all of us to join her for dinner tonight."

"I wouldn't contest you going first." Arizona grins broadly, standing. "Come on, I told the others we'd meet them at the hotel. Mark mentioned wanting to go to Chinatown for dinner."

* * *

Okay, so I know there was a ton of dialogue in this chapter, and I'm sorry, but it was necessary.


	9. Fourth of July Announcement

Alright, I'm making some minor changes to this chapter to fit with what we now know about Arizona. But I'm keeping the name thing, that would change the whole story... otherwise SUPER MINOR, you probably would miss it if you weren't paying attention, so no worries about major changes to the story! Oh yeah, and I totally gave myself a "boo-yah" when I heard Arizona's speech to Mr. Torres this week!

* * *

"Who are you?" Ashleigh turns around from the kitchen sink to face the older gentleman in the doorway. Immediately she recognizes him from photos as Callie's father. She quickly wipes her hands of the fruit she was slicing to introduce herself.

"I'm Ashleigh. You must be Mr. Torres; it's a pleasure to meet you." Mr. Torres stares at her outstretched hand before taking it briefly.

"Are you the new nanny? I know CJ and Lena were looking to hire someone."

"No, I'm not the nanny, I'm-," she's cut off by a woman entering the kitchen.

"Emilio! Good to see you, when did you get here?"

"Just a moment ago. Alyssa let me in."

"And you've met Ashleigh."

"Yes, except that I don't know who she is to you and my son."

"She's my daughter." Emilio turns to see Arizona in the doorway. The smile on her face only tightens when she notices the cold look he's giving her.

"What are you doing here?"

"I invited her, Dad." CJ enters the kitchen, grabbing the bowl of fruit salad. "Now either leave or shut up and join us out back." He exits through the door toward the backyard, Ashleigh, Arizona and Lena following behind. Emilio follows after a moment.

"I thought I raised you with more respect for your elders." CJ puts the salad down and counts to ten before turning to his father.

"You also raised me to have love and respect for my family."

Father and son stare each other down, waiting for the other to make the first move. Even the young child that exited the house and climbed into her mother, Lena's, arms knew enough to keep silent. Ashleigh notices the scared look on the young child's face and makes a silly face at her, managing a small smile from the dark-haired child. Emilio glances around, passing over the two blondes while noticing who isn't present.

"Did Calliope come?"

"Yes, she's upstairs taking a call."

"She comes to a family holiday and spends it on her phone. Such respectful children I raised."

"She got a call from her best friend who is having problems." The group turns to Ashleigh, who was quick to defend her mother's girlfriend.

"She's talking to Addison?" Arizona quickly schools her features, though Ashleigh is quick to notice the moment of pure joy that crosses her features at first.

"That means something to you, Mom?"

"Yes." Arizona doesn't elaborate, turning back to the house at the sound of the back door opening. With a dark-haired child slung over each shoulder and a third wrapped around his leg, Nick exits the house, laughing along with his nieces. He falls silent when he notices the tension in the back yard. Slowly lowering the young children to the ground, he moves around greeting Lena and Arizona with a kiss. Leaning down to greet Ashleigh, he warmly returns the hug she grants him.

"Where's Callie?"

"Right here." Callie comes up behind the group, stopping short of Lena when the girl in her arms reaches out for her. Warmly accepting the child, Callie holds her close, pressing a kiss to her head. "Where's Mom?"

"She had to run to the store," Lena supplies, smiling at her sister.

"Why are you here?" Emilio questions bluntly. Callie whispers in her niece's ear before lowering her to the ground and steering her toward the house. The child pauses to gather her sisters, leaving the adults behind. Arizona follows their progress, ensuring that they enter the house; exiting the house as the girls enter is an older woman that she immediately recognizes as Callie's mother.

"I was invited." Callie answers her father's question as soon as the door is shut behind the girls.

"I told you before-,"

"And I don't care." CJ steps in. "She's my sister, same as you're my father. Normally I wouldn't choose one over the other, but for something like this, I'm taking Callie's side. This is stupid, Callie has found someone that makes her happy, and when is that ever a bad thing? My sister is happy, and you're saying that you don't want that; you're basically saying that you don't want any of your children to be happy just because she's found happiness with a woman."

"Clearly he's not listening to reason, CJ. Perhaps we need to convince him in a manner he will understand." The group turns to find Nick standing as formally as he can be considering he's wearing swim trunks with a Hawaiian floral print and a matching shirt and holding a set of file folders, one of which he hands to CJ, keeping two for himself.

CJ looks to his wife, getting a smile of reassurance in return, he takes the folder and hands it to his father, while Nick hands the other two to him. Emilio opens the top one, looking up in confusion. CJ elaborates for him.

"In a nutshell, if you want nothing to do with Callie, then you'll have nothing to do with Nick, Aria and myself either. Those would contain the papers to formally have all three of us disowned. And realize that if you choose this path, you'll not only be losing three children, but also your CEO and CFO and COO."

"This is ridiculous."

"So is having Callie disowned because she found happiness."

Emilio looks to his wife for back-up, only to find that she's standing firm with her children. Remaining silent, he closes the folder before stalking off the property. Once he's gone, Callie turns to her brothers.

"I wish you'd warned me of this plan of yours."

"Why, you would've only tried to stop us." CJ smiles at his sister wryly while she turns to Lena.

"And you supported this?"

"I suggested it to him."

"And who suggested it to you?"

"Aria. She came by right after she went to see you and told me of her plan to have her removed from the family in the same way that your father did with you. I then presented the plan to CJ who presented it to Nick."

"Either he faced his prejudice, or he loses his remaining children." CJ falls silent at his mother's hand on his arm. Facing up to her daughter, she takes her hands.

"I thought if I agreed with him, I would be able to change his mind in time. I hope that you can forgive me in time." She looks up, surprised to see her daughter grinning at her. She smiles back at Arizona before returning her gaze to her mother.

"You know, it's a shame that he'll never know his grandson."

A short squeal is heard behind her, and she turns to see Ashleigh bouncing on her toes in excitement. She calms long enough to smile broadly.

"I know societal rules state that I should be slightly disgusted by the fact that there's 20 years between myself and my baby brother, but I just can't find it in me." She throws her arms around Callie in jubilee, releasing her and turning to find that her entire family is staring at them dumbly. Nick is the one to finally speak up.

"Just to make sure that I'm hearing you correctly…you're pregnant?" Callie nods yes. "And it's a boy?" Yes again. "And you're still gay?" … Yes.

"Thank you for taking the pressure off of me." Nick turns to CJ, "who'd a thunk it? The gay Torres is the one to provide the son. That is irony in its greatest form."

"Now you understand why he's my favorite." Ashleigh leans her elbow against her mother's shoulder, staring at the group.

"I thought it was because I got you the book on Greco-Roman art for your birthday?"

"Well, that didn't hurt your position."

"Uncle Tommy will be so upset."

"When Uncle Tommy stops questioning when Patrick is going to make an honest woman out of me, that's when he'll move back up to my favorite. And yes, I know…if Uncle Ford was here he'd fight Nick to the death for the title. So, have you picked out a name for my baby brother?"

"Ask your mother, she won the bet."

"Bet?" Lena questions.

"Yeah, if this baby was a boy, she got to name him and I'd get the next, regardless of sex; and the same in reverse if it was a girl."

"Next one?" CJ picks up on.

"Yeah, we figure three is a good number."

"So, name?" Everyone looks to Arizona.

"I'm still debating the first name, but I want the middle name to be Ford."

"He'd like that." Ashleigh smiles at her mother.

"What will he say when your brother finds out that you chose his name to make your son's middle name?"

"If he were alive today he'd probably harass me endlessly for it." She smiles softly at their expressions. "He was killed in Iraq two years ago."

"Like Uncle West?" The adults turn to find the oldest of the Torres granddaughters standing up for the others, now standing before them in their swimsuits.

"Yeah, sweetie," Callie kneels down beside her. "Like Uncle West." Callie leans in close, as if partaking a secret. "But we can't talk about him because it makes Auntie Arizona remember her brother, and that makes her sad, so let's keep her happy today, okay?"

She nods yes before cannon-balling into the pool. The youngest curls back up into Callie's arms, as she was before they were sent inside. Callie stands and faces her girlfriend.

"Let's start at the beginning, shall we? You didn't meet Arizona, did you? This is Arizona, girls; this is Sophia," Callie points to the one in her arms. "And this is Delia, Cassia and that's Alyssa in the pool."

Sophia looks up to Arizona for a moment before reaching out for her. Welcoming her into her hold, Arizona holds her close, much as Callie had done.

"And she finally has a new favorite." The group turns to find Aria standing off to the side, having just arrived.

"I'm guessing that the absence of the sperm donor means that you presented him with our ultimatum?"

"Yup. And clearly his absence tells you how he reacted."

"Makes you wonder how he'll find three people trusting enough to run the company now. Remember how long it took him to decide to finally hand the three of you full reign?"

"William." The group turns to Arizona for her random outburst. Ashleigh is the only one that catches on.

"Kinda ironic, isn't it?"

"William Ford Robbins Torres…that has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

"I think it's kind of a mouthful, but it's your choice."

"Ummm, what?" Aria, who wasn't there for the first part of the conversation, is lost as to what the mother-daughter pair is discussing.

"How is the name ironic?" Nick questions.

"Maybe ironic isn't the best word… fitting, maybe? You were named for him and now you're naming your son after him."

"Wait?" Aria speaks up. "One: who is 'him'; two: you're pregnant?!"

"_No_… to the second question, the first answer is my grandfather." Arizona smiles widely at Aria's confusion.

"So why are we discussing naming your son if you're not pregnant?"

"Because I'm pregnant…with her baby. So it would be her son." Callie grants her confusion a reprieve.

"Wait, I just saw you six months ago…in that time you decided to have a kid, found a doctor and went through all the treatments."

"We always had the doctor picked out, and we lucked out on the first try."

Aria takes a moment to process the news before moving forward and throwing her arms around her older sister. Holding tightly for a minute, she releases to give Arizona a hug also.

"So I'm guessing that dad didn't hear this news before storming out of here?"

"Nope."

"Sucks for him."

"Language!" Aria recoils at her mother's admonition before grinning sheepishly as Sophia who is giggling in Arizona's arms.

"So, where does the name come from? I get the feeling that you already explained where Ford came from, where does William come from, and why is the name fitting?"

"Ford was my brother's name, he was killed in Iraq two years ago. William was my paternal grandfather's name, and it's fitting that I name my son after him because I was named for him."

"How do you get Arizona from William?"

"He was killed on the _USS_ Arizona at Pearl Harbor."

"Oh, so I will restate my previous question, CIT… when can I put all this in a new book?"

Scoffing in exasperation, Callie glances towards the two blondes to her side, gaining acceptance from each of them before turning back to her sister granting her a hesitant allowance. Aria bounces on her toes in happiness, those that know her can see the wheels turning in her head as she starts to work out a storyline in her mind.

* * *

"So, Arizona," the blonde looks up to Callie's mother in expectation. "How did your family react to all of this new information, with the baby and all?"

"I actually haven't had a moment to talk to my family lately. My brother, sister and brother-in-law are all working on this big project together right now for the DOD and my parents are trying to deal with retirement, so I don't know where they are."

"What does your family do?"

"My father was a lawyer, my older brother followed his footsteps; my sister is a psychiatrist, and my mother is a photographer, and my brother-in-law is an engineer."

"How did they feel about your brother joining the military?"

"My father just retired from the military. He started out as an enlisted Recon Marine before gaining acceptance to Officer Training; and both my older brother and younger sister is in the Navy as well, and my sister married a Navy officer as well."

"And your mother?"

"My mother was the dutiful military wife and mother. She never complained."

"So it's a family business."

"Yes it is." Arizona responds with a laugh.

"And they didn't have an issue with you not joining?" CJ questions.

"Nope. I'm lucky, my family is very supportive of everything that we do. If I chose to join the circus, they would have supported me."

"Proven by the fact they had no issue with you changing your name in college." Ashleigh throws in.

"What?"

"Robbins is my mother's name, Lofton is my father's. I changed it in college because I was tired of being recognized as my father's daughter and fielding questions as to why I wasn't joining the military."

"So you weren't given your father's name?" Callie's mother questions Ashleigh. The two blondes look away in discomfort before Arizona answers.

"No, and he's not a part of our lives anymore."

"So," Nick changes the subject. "What's this 'big project' that your siblings are working on?"

"No idea, most of what Matthew – my brother-in-law – does is classified, so we really can't know the details."

"What does he do exactly?"

"His degrees are in engineering and biological sciences."

"Degrees? As in more than one?"

"Double bachelors in Biology and Mechanical Engineering, Ph.D. in Biomechanical engineering and a medical degree. He always spoke of wanting to design prosthetics and wheelchairs, ever since his brother wound up in a wheelchair after a drunk driver rammed into his car, but I really don't know if that's what he's doing now."

"Well, I can't wait to meet them." The elder Torres comments.

* * *

And that's it. Next up, you meet the Lofton siblings, and there will be a return of Army Lt. Charlie Lowell.


	10. Navy Stooges

"Dr. Torres! Hold up." Callie stops to allow Owen to catch up to her in the hallway.

"What can I do for you Dr. Hunt?" The pair resumes walking.

"Remember Lieutenant Lowell?"

"He was a hard patient to forget. Isn't he due in today to start fitting for his prosthetic?"

"Precisely what I need to talk to you about; he's coming in this afternoon. I got a call from him last night. Apparently he has been selected to receive this new prosthetic that the DOD just designed for veterans. One amputee was chosen from each branch; a major requirement was that the veteran intended to return to active duty. Apparently he electing to amputate to return to duty was a big bonus in his selection."

"Will this affect our involvement with him in any way?"

"Partly. His case was supposed to be turned over to the DOD and they were to handle everything once he was selected, but he insisted that you and I continue to be in charge of his case. So the engineer that designed the prosthetic, the psychiatrist that cleared him to receive the prosthetic and the lawyer that is in charge of the project will all be here with him this afternoon."

"So make sure he gets a larger exam room to accommodate. I'll still be able to do my job, right?"

"Right."

"Okay, then. Sorry to be so abrupt, but I've got two ACL repairs before the good lieutenant arrives, so I need to get going."

"Alright, I just wanted to give you warning."

"Thank you for that. Barring any complications, I should be done in plenty of time, but if I'm not, can you make certain that the exam room is set up?"

"No problem. See you later." They part ways as Callie enters the scrub room and Owen heads down to the ER.

* * *

"And, done." Callie signs off on the last of her post-surgical notes before handing the chart off to a resident to keep tabs on the patient in recovery. Glancing down at her watch, so realizes that she has just enough time to grab a cup of tea before heading down to meet with Lieutenant Lowell.

Noticing that the coffee pot is empty, Callie starts a new pot after making her cup of tea, just as Arizona comes rushing into the room in a panic.

"There you are! We _really_ need to talk."

"Okay, can we walk and talk? 'Cause I'm running late for an appointment." Callie rushes out the door towards the ortho department.

"Yeah, sure." Arizona rushes after her. "Umm, do you remember the conversation that we had awhile back about my family?"

"Brother's a lawyer, sister's a shrink, brother-in-law's an engineer; it was the same time you told me about Ashleigh. Look," Callie stops outside an exam room and turns to face her girlfriend, "I have to spend the next several hours fitting a kid that is barely legal to order a beer all while dealing with a bunch of Navy stooges – nothing against your siblings in saying that – so can this wait?"

"Uh, no, it really can't-" Arizona is cut off when Owen arrives, greeting the two women.

"Dr. Robbins, Dr. Torres, ready to do this?"

"Yes." Callie follows Owen into the exam room and stops short at the sight of the two men and one woman in the room, all in Navy blues, and all with three solid stripes and different insignia on the sleeves of their jacket. Immediately she recognizes the three officers and promptly steps out of the room, shutting the door behind her and turning around to her girlfriend. The blonde is standing there with an apologetic look.

"Yeah, the three 'Navy stooges' you'll be dealing with are my brothers and sister."

"Okay. They do know about this, right?" Callie points to her midsection to indicate what she meant by 'this'. Though she's into the final half of her pregnancy and there is a definite baby bump, she was one of the fortunate women that don't seem to show much of her pregnancy.

"Yes, they know about our little parasite." Arizona assures her, using the nickname that Christina had been using since learning that her former roommate is expecting. Resting her hands against her girlfriend's belly, she leans in to reassure her. "I'm sorry to spring this on you, but I just got the call from my mother saying they were in town, she wanted me to make sure that I knew so that we could meet up for dinner or something. I-"

"Hey, it's okay. Not the circumstances I'd imagined meeting them under – hey, you realize this is the first time I'm meeting your family? I'm almost 6 months pregnant and I haven't met your family yet." The pair laugh lightly before Arizona gives her a quick kiss.

"Go on, they're waiting. What do you say to inviting them over for Chinese and a movie tonight? No work talk allowed." Callie smiles brightly.

"Sure. See you afterwards."

With one last kiss and smile, Callie re-enters the room to face two looks of confusion and three gentle smirks.

"Is everything alright, Dr. Torres?" Charlie asks with his gentle smile.

"Fine. How are you doing?"

"Fantastic. And ready to get back to my unit."

"We both know that you were ready to get back to your unit long before I amputated." Callie takes a seat at the foot of the table he's sitting on and pulls back the blanket covering his stump.

"The Army doctors said that I had good blood flow in my stump and everything else looks good."

"Everything does look good."

"So we're good to go to fit me for this prosthetic?"

"Anything that you need to tell me – honestly." Callie looks at him pointedly, silently daring him to lie to her. Charlie hesitates slightly before answering.

"There are still some phantom pains, but it's manageable, no big deal."

"Phantom pains are a big deal, Lieutenant. They can really affect you once you're back in combat."

"I've been helping him deal with it." The female officer speaks up. Owen looks up to her before nodding.

"Alright then, let's get started." Callie turns to gather the plaster for the cast.

"Awesome." Charlie rubs his hands together in anticipation, bouncing slightly in his place. "Will Dr. O'Malley be joining us?"

"Um, Dr. O'Malley isn't part of the surgical program anymore. He was forced to leave the program early this year, right after your surgery actually."

"Is he alright?" Callie grins tightly at him.

"No, but he will be."

"Where is he now? Is he in another program?"

"He's at Shady Oaks Assisted Living facility. He was in a really bad car accident."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Charlie glances to the side, remembering that the three officers hadn't been introduced to Callie. "Oh, Dr. Torres, you weren't here when we did the introductions. This is Commander Lofton, Commander Grant, and Commander Lofton-Grant." He ends with the female officer.

"Commanders."

"We know who Dr. Torres is, and Nevada is fine. Congratulations by the way."

"Thank you. Remind me to show you the ultrasound photos later."

"You're pregnant, Dr. Torres? Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

"How do they know?" He motions to the three officers.

"It's their nephew."

"Oh." He looks confused for a moment, "I thought you two said that you only had a sister?"

"We do." One of the men answers. "And that would be her girlfriend." He turns to Callie, "and please call me Tommy."

"Matt." The third officer speaks up.

"Oh, awesome. How far along are you?"

"Twenty-two weeks."

"Have you thought of any names?"

"William Ford."

"Interesting."

"They're family names." Callie smiles up at him. "So, the fun part is over. Now you just get to sit around while this dries."

"Alright. Then what?"

"Then we'll call you for your first fitting when the prosthetic gets in."

"It shouldn't take more than a week or two." Matt speaks up. "We've been set up at Bremerton while we go through your fitting process."

"And how long will the fitting process take?"

"It will still be at least another year before you can return to active duty, Charlie. I warned you when you asked me to amputate that this could take time. You need to be patient."

"I know that, Dr. Torres, I do, I'm just-"

"I get it, you want it over with. I feel the same way every time I hear about the drinking contests the residents get into and wish that I could join them." Lieutenant Lowell breaks a smile at the comment, while Nevada is quick to cover her snort of amusement.

"I know the feeling. I felt the same way with my first pregnancy. 'Course, that was because she was a bit of a shock. It gets easier with each pregnancy."

"I'll have to take yours and Arizona's word for it. She's going next, and seeing as she's the one that has been pregnant already, she'll have to let me know."

"Wait, what? Arizona's going next?"

"I take it she left that part out of the 'we're having a kid' announcement. Yeah," Callie starts cleaning up. The two siblings are shocked, the in-law is looking on in amusement, and Charlie and Owen start looking uncomfortable as the conversation continues. "We figure three is a good number, even if it would technically be two, since Ashleigh is out of the house and on her own. She's thrilled about this, despite the age difference. When we announced the pregnancy in Miami, I think she was more excited than my mother. Especially when we told them it was a boy; I've got four nieces."

"Does your dad know?" Nevada questions with a sympathetic tone.

"Stop trying to shrink me. But no, he doesn't know. And I'm not totally certain that I want him to." Callie checks the cast and sees that it still has a ways to go. "Sooo, you two've got kids?"

"Yeah, a 7-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy. Arizona didn't mention them?"

"Oh, she did. Maggie and Finn, Maggie was an 'oops' baby; Finn, totally planned. She was named for Matt's grandmother, and he was named for his father. She's in third grade after skipping second, definitely gets her brains from Arizona…"

"Don't you mean she gets them from Nevada?" Matt questions. "Cause I know I didn't have sex with Arizona."

"And the weirdness in this room has reached a new high. Oh look, the plaster is dry!" Callie moves to pull the cast off Charlie's stump. She hands it off to Matt who stows it away in the box he brought with him. "Okay, they'll give us a call when they're ready for the next step. Patience, remember?"

"Yeah, thanks, Dr. Torres."

"No problem." Callie gives him a smile before exiting the room.

* * *

"So, how did today go?" Arizona looks up as Callie enters the living room after her shower.

"Good. I get the feeling that I'll really like your siblings once I see them 'out of uniform' as it were. It seemed like everything that they said today was restrained out of respect."

"Like the response to 'Maggie gets her brains from me'?" Arizona grins widely as Callie settles herself into her side, wrapping an arm around the blonde's waist.

"Yes, and if that is him respectfully restrained, I'd hate to know what him letting loose is like." Arizona giggles softly.

"We can be a pretty wild group when we let loose…wait until the next family reunion."

"Family reunion?"

"When families gather to reunite." Arizona accepts the soft punch from her girlfriend at her smart-assed comment. "Yeah, we'll have them every five years or so. Gathering every generation together is a hoot."

"A 'hoot'?" Callie raises an eyebrow at the blonde's old-fashioned comment.

"Yes, a hoot. My dad served 20 years before he met my mom, and they were together for three more years before they got married. She's significantly younger than he is – 22 years," Arizona answers before Callie can ask. "Believe it or not, there never was a problem with either set of parents. Dad's parents died when Mom was pregnant with Nevada, but her parents are still alive – they're only a couple years older than Dad actually. I think the next reunion is supposed to be at their place. They own a massive piece of land in upstate New York that's been in the family for over a hundred years. It used to be a fully working ranch, but they've since scaled back, sold some of the land off, and now they breed horses. It's absolutely gorgeous, really. I can't wait for you to see it."

Throughout the story, Callie is paying more attention to her girlfriend than she is the story being told. When the blonde mentions her grandparents' ranch, her love for the place shines through in the soft expression that overtakes her facial features. There is pure love and happiness shining through that the brunette could only recall seeing once or twice. When she gets to the comment about bringing the younger woman to the ranch, Callie smiles back in excitement, but is prevented from responding when they hear a knock at the door.

Arizona lifts Callie's feet off her lap before getting up. Weaving around a few things that they haven't managed to hang up just yet, she opens the door to find her siblings standing on the other side, Matt carrying drinks, and Tommy with his arms full of food.

"I thought that we were going to order when you guys got here?" Arizona steps aside to let the trio in."

"We thought we'd save a step," Tommy toes off his shoes in the entry way, pushing them up aligned with the others'. "We went to the Chinese place you mentioned going to and got your usual."

"And what about Calliope's usual?" Setting the food down on the coffee table, Tommy motions to the box on the bottom. "Well, over the months you've mentioned four different kinds of fried rice: pork, chicken, beef and shrimp; orange chicken, kung pao chicken and beef stir fry. And we asked the owner what else you've been ordering lately for her cravings, and he told us of three others. Then there are three boxes of egg rolls and two of vegetable rolls. So hopefully we've got all the bases covered."

"An accommodating male, good thing I met Arizona first." Callie comments, while reaching for a box of beef stir fry.

"Why, you don't think you'd be able to resist me otherwise?" Tommy glances her way with a large grin, prominently displaying the crater-sized dimples it appears every Robbins uses to their full potential.

"Why is it that you're still single, again?"

"Too much travel. As much as I loved experiencing all the culture we did growing up, I hated having to change schools every year, sometimes twice a year. I could never subject a woman to that, let alone kids."

"Okay then."

Matt and Nevada have been silent throughout the entire exchange, taking in the surrounding house, and the large number of items still on the floor, particularly frames leaning against the walls.

"Didn't you move in here four months ago, Zee?" Nevada glances back to her sister briefly.

"Yes."

"So why are the walls still empty? Lord knows you've got enough photos to fill the spaces."

"Well my pregnant girlfriend and I work 80 hour weeks. We've figured out where everything is going to go, we just haven't had the time to put anything up. Friends of ours have promised to help us get it all up if we host Christmas dinner in return. Again, though, we're all doctors that work 80 hour weeks."

"So where is everything going?" Matt speaks up. "Are those what all the marks on the walls are?"

"Good eye." Callie comments.

"Matt's the analytical freak in the family." Tommy comments with a grin, letting his brother-in-law know that he's joking with him. Matt smiles in return before getting up and retrieving the hammer he noticed on the side table on his way in.

"Come on lazy," he pulls at his wife's arm, "let's get some of these up for them." Matt has already hammered in the first nail and is putting the large print in its place before Arizona can comment.

"You don't have to do that, Matt."

"Consider it my housewarming gift." He grins back at the blonde before continuing with the next nail. "Give me a hand here, Tommy." Matt motions to the large framed Audubon that's going in the center of the wall between the kitchen and living area. Together the two get the large print up before returning to work, Matt hammering the nails into the selected spaces while Tommy hangs up the frames. Only a few times do one of the doctors have to correct him when he's about to hang the wrong one in the wrong space. In less than an hour, after hanging up a large painting over the fireplace, the room they were sitting in as well as the entry way has all of the chosen frames hanging in their place.

"Let's eat, then we'll finish the rest of the house." Tommy declares, sitting down and taking up his dinner again, Matt reluctantly following.

* * *

The rest of that night followed peacefully, the three siblings spent the evening ribbing each other endlessly while hanging up the rest of the photos in the house. Undoubtedly the stairway walls took the longest. That was the hallway that was dedicated to the family photos. Several dozen various frames, some holding multiple candid shots, others holding large formal ones, including the wedding photos of, then - Lieutenant Daniel Lofton and his bride, Katherine Robbins, and Matthew and Nevada. Every photo that was taken out of a box had a story to it, and the siblings spent more time reminiscing about the times, than they did working. When the photos that were Callie's came up, the three would stop working, call Matt downstairs, join Callie on the couch and ask about the events surrounding the scene in the photo. Finally, just after midnight, the siblings have finished the hallway, just as Callie and Matt finish the rest of the rooms. Before they can comment, Arizona pushes the couple into the guest bedroom and pulls out the futon for her brother.

One more happy memory to be shared, though there was one person that would be missing out on the stories.

But not for long…

* * *

Okay, so at some point this week, in the seconds before I fell asleep, I realized that this baby should technically be called Lofton-Torres, not Robbins-Torres, but we're going to keep it as Robbins-Torres.

As for the next chapter, I'm warning you now that it's gonna be awhile. I know how I want it to go, but I've started and deleted it five times already, cause it didn't go how I wanted it to. I'm thinking that there's only gonna be one or two more chapters, and maybe an epilogue, so be prepared for the end of this story.

I've had an idea floating around for a Calzone Christmas fic, just a little one-shot, so I'm gonna try and put that to paper and post it before the holiday.

And speaking of the holiday…safe travels for those going away to spend it with family, and happy holidays to all. And for those that won't be celebrating…Happy Friday!


	11. Mr Torres

So, Webster's defines plagiarize as: to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own**:** use (another's production) without crediting the source.

Me? I happen to think of it more as the highest form of compliment.

Let's face it – if we're writing for this site, we don't own the characters we're writing (unless they're original).

So, here's the promised next chapter. I probably re-started it another 10 times, before I realized that the big issue I was having was figuring out how the Arizona/Mr. Torres and Callie/Mr. Torres scenes could be better than the actual ones. My answer? They can't be! So yes, those scenes are straight from the show, except for the thoughts and emotions, cause while it may look like one is being displayed, something totally different could be what they're trying to convey. But of course I had to change some of it up a bit. After all, Invasion was set in the fall, whereas this is set in the final days of the year, and Callie's pregnant in the story. Any-whooo… let me know what ya'll think please!

* * *

The doctors of Seattle Grace Hospital were known to frequent the Emerald City Bar following a shift, nasty or otherwise. Following the merger with Mercy West, the new doctors eventually began to trickle in, one at a time, each time staying longer and longer.

A few miles away, there is another bar, this one frequented by no doctor at either hospital. Through the windows behind the bar, the rain that is a fixture to Seattle weather can be seen coursing down the windows, matching the mood of many of its inhabitants, one in particular.

This one particular inhabitant has been sitting at the bar for several hours, a barely touched glass of scotch sitting in front of him, and a well worn photo in his hands. Anyone that took a closer look would see a younger version of the man with a young girl, likely still in the single digits of her youth. The man is startled out of his reverie by an older gentleman sitting beside him.

"That's a beautiful girl that you've got there. Grandkid?" The new man orders his own scotch while allowing the man to gather his thoughts.

"Kid," he replies, "my daughter."

"Judging by the age of the photo, my guess is that you've been carrying that particular photo around for some time. How old is your girl now?"

"She is 33."

"Any particular reason why you're carrying around a photo that's 20-some years old then?"

"We were happy then." The newer man is silent at that thought; both men are while gathering their thoughts. "Do you have children?"

"Yup." The man digs out his wallet, pulling out three photos, he hands one to the man. "This is a few years old, but it was taken at my youngest daughter's graduation from medical school." He hands over a second photo, this one of two kids, "she's made me a grandpa twice now," he hands over the third photo, "and my oldest daughter is about to make me a grandpa for a fourth time, that's her daughter, she just turned 20. Do you have grandkids?"

"Four – granddaughters – by my oldest son."

"So with all this family, how is it that the last time you remember being happy is 20-some years ago?"

"This was the day that my daughter told me I'd be the only real man in her life. She was seven. I'm just now realizing the truth behind that statement. Maybe she knew even then." The last bit is said under his breath, but the older man manages to catch it.

"Knew? Knew what?"

"Last time that I was in Seattle, my daughter introduced me to her girlfriend."

"And she had always dated men before that." The second man states with certainty.

"You sound like you've got some experience there?"

"Not really. My oldest daughter never had boyfriends, but it still threw me for a loop when she told me that she was a lesbian."

"May I ask how you responded?"

"All I cared about was if she was still the same woman that I raised her to be. We try, every day, to make sure that our children grow up to be strong pillars of the community; men and women of strength and honor, with integrity. Whether my daughter brings home a man or a woman, she's still the same woman that I raised her to be; and even if she knows that, I still make sure to remind her of it every time that I speak with her." He retrieves his photos, putting them away while pulling out money to cover his drink in the same motion before getting up to leave. He leaves the other man with a parting thought.

"Do you know if your daughter is happy? With this woman? Maybe you're so used to seeing her unhappy with men and that's why it's been so long since you've been happy; now… you can't see that she is happy with this woman."

* * *

"Hi, I was paged down here?" Arizona smiles broadly at the nurse at the general intake desk. The nurse looks up briefly before pointing her in the direction of the waiting area. Arizona turns, expecting to see the family of a former patient, or even her family, but is surprised to see the form of her fiancée's father standing in front of the windows. With some hesitation, Arizona approaches and stands silently behind the man, waiting for him to speak first.

"I don't know you well enough to talk about her, we're not going to do that." Mr. Torres spares the blonde the briefest of glances before returning his attention to the freezing rain on the other side of the windows.

"Most people think that I was named for the state, but it's not true, I was named for a battleship - the _USS_ Arizona. My grandfather was serving on the Arizona when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and he saved…19 men, before he drowned. Pretty much everything my father did his whole life has been about honoring that sacrifice. I was raised to be a good man in a storm, raised to love my family, love my country, and protect the things I love.

"When my father, Colonel Daniel Robbins of the United States Marine Corps, heard that I was a lesbian, he said he only had one question. I was prepared for: 'How fast can you get the hell out of my house?' but instead… it was… 'Are you still who I raised you to be?'

"My father believes in country, the way that you believe in God. And my father is not a man who bends, but he bent for me because I'm his daughter. I'm a good man in a storm.

"I love your daughter, and I protect the things I love. Not that I need to. She doesn't need it. She's strong, and caring… and honorable." Arizona is unable to keep her voice from breaking as she delivers her final stand.

"And she's who you raised her to be."

Mr. Torres fumbles with the buttons of his jacket, absorbing all that he has just heard from the petite blonde at his side.

One line from her speech stuck out in his mind: "I love your daughter."

Arizona smiles to herself, knowing that whatever comes next, that move belongs to her fiancée's father. And she walks away, allowing Mr. Torres a moment to absorb all that she just told him.

* * *

Callie leaves the hospital following a 12-hour shift, wanting nothing more than to drop everything and enjoy a leisurely soak in her tub, maybe with her fiancée joining her, definitely with the intent of politely demanding a foot rub from said fiancée before bed. Her thoughts are interrupted by a voice coming from the side.

"Calliope." She turns in shock, to match the voice she fears she is hallucinating with the body it came from.

"Daddy? What-? What are you doing here?" The Torres clan hadn't seen or heard from the elder Torres since the Independence Day picnic in Miami. "Look, if you're here to – know what, no. I can't do this again. You know what, you'll see me in hell."

"Listen to me, please." Callie stops and turns at the hand on her elbow.

"I have to catch you."

"What?"

"Your whole life, you… you've always been on a bridge, Calliope, ever since you were a little girl. And you don't just walk on it either. No, you climb on the railing and you're – you're ready to leap. And when you do, when that happens… I have to be there, I have to catch you."

"You don't have to catch me, dad."

"Yes, I do. It's my job."

Callie allows a half smile to shine through, knowing this is the start of her father accepting her, though she's not prepared for what's to come from his mouth next.

"Listen if this works out between you and Arizona… is there a chance you'd, uh… give your mother a wedding?"

Knowing that he's been out of the loop for the past six months, Callie smiles softly, answering in vague terms for the moment.

"If Arizona wanted to spend the rest of her life with me? Yeah, I'll put on a big white dress and dance down the aisle."

"Hm…how – how about grandkids?"

Callie pulls her winter coat around her a little tighter, leaning over to hide the baby bump for a little while longer.

"Yes, I would imagine… when the time came… there would be kids."

"Mm-hmm. Does she make you happy?"

"Yes, dad, she makes me very happy." Callie refrains from throwing her arms around her father, instead bringing him in gently.

"I love you, you know that?" Mr. Torres draws back, with a glint only a few could recognize in his eyes.

"She's not a vegetarian is she? Because I-I don't know how much more I can take."

"She's not a vegetarian." Callie chuckles while pulling her father back into her arms.

"I feel very old." Callie smiles before drawing away from her father's arms, her own glint of mischievousness present.

"Prepare to feel a little older, grandpa." Callie digs in her purse for the ever-present ultrasound photo she carries around with her. With a soft smile gracing her features, she hands it over to her father.

He stares at the photo in confusion for a moment before he notices his daughter's name printed across the top, right above the name William Ford Robbins-Torres. He looks back to his daughter, the question dies on his lips when he notices that she's now standing up straight, her bump clearly visible to him, though she still doesn't look like she's nearly full term.

"I- what?"

"Genetically, he's Arizona's. I certainly hope that you won't love him any less. I know I won't. And mom, Aria and the boys have made it clear they won't either."

"Of course not, mija. I'm just so happy to be back in your life. Ummm-?"

"Apologize to mom, hopefully she'll forgive you, and let you know the when and where for the wedding. I'll at least tell you that it's after I deliver."

"When-?" He points to the photo, then her belly, silently asking when the baby is due.

"I'm due in 8 weeks. There's – we're hosting New Year's Eve tomorrow." Callie digs around for a pen and piece of paper, writing down their new address before handing it over to him. "I'd love it if you came. I'd offer you one of the guest rooms, but Arizona's parents and siblings have taken them over. But mom rented a house short-term, she's planning on staying until William is born. If you apologize nicely, maybe she'll let you stay with her."

* * *

Entering her house, Callie closes her eyes and leans back against the door to take a deep breath, quickly reliving the events of the past hour. Feeling herself being relieved of her bag, she opens her eyes to meet the sea-colored gaze of her fiancée's mother.

"Is everything alright, dear?"

"Fine, it was just a long day."

Kate can tell that there is more on the brunette's mind, but she wisely leaves it alone.

"Well, Daniel and I are going out." She leans in to deliver the next line with a conspiratorial tone. "I'm not supposed to tell you that Arizona is upstairs drawing you a bath." She leans back as her husband approaches, allowing him to help her don her coat before he helps relieve Callie of hers. Callie gives the retired Colonel a soft smile of thanks, eliciting a smile from the normally stoic-faced older man.

"Don't wait up." Kate winks at the younger woman before dragging her husband out the door.

Callie chuckles softly to herself at the antics of her future in-laws. She thinks back to the first time she met them, remembering the shock at the open affection shared between the couple. She was so used to witnessing the retrained affection her own parents displayed in public that it was a shock to see such opposite behavior. Knowing that both her parents might be present the following night, she allows herself a brief moment to wonder how the two pairs will get along before shaking off the thought.

Tonight is all about relaxing…relaxing with the love of her life. Who is currently upstairs unknowingly preparing the younger woman exactly what she wanted for the evening.

Upon entering the bedroom, Callie hears water running over the sound of the blonde puttering around. Callie leans against the door jamb allowing herself the opportunity to observe her fiancée lighting the last few candles and selecting some relaxing music from the ipod.

Noticing movement in the corner of her eye, Arizona turns toward her fiancée, returning the gentle smile directed towards her.

Callie moves toward the blonde, draping her arms around the blonde's shoulders, sighing in satisfaction as hands find and massage the small of her back, rubbing the tension out of the joints.

"Mmmm… you read my mind."

"I've been known to do that where you're concerned." Callie smiles at the playful tone evident in Arizona's voice.

"I don't suppose that I could convince you to join me?"

* * *

Settling themselves into the tub, Callie leans back into the blonde's embrace.

"I saw my dad today," Arizona hums an acknowledgement, reaching for a washcloth as Callie continues her story. "He was waiting for me as I left the hospital." Callie falls silent, gathering her thoughts, enjoying the sensations from Arizona's movements.

"I think he's okay with this…with all of this." Arizona's movements cease as Callie covers her hands, resting them over her belly. The pair is silent for several minutes, enjoying the moment, with only the occasional movement from their son as interruption.

"You don't seem all that surprised to hear this." Callie cranes her neck to look the blonde in the eye, waiting for a response.

Arizona smiles softly, pressing a kiss to the side of her head before continuing her previous ministrations.

"I spoke with him, too." Arizona softly responds. "After lunch… he didn't say much.

"I wasn't planning on telling you. Not if he wasn't going to speak to you. I didn't want to upset you."

"Can I ask what you spoke about?" Arizona wrings out the washcloth, hanging it up and returning her hands to Callie's belly while answering.

"I told him about how I got my name; when I came out to my dad. I told him how much I loved you, how it didn't matter who you shared your bed with, you were still the same strong, caring and honorable person that he raised you to be." Her tone is soft throughout the speech, which she ends with a soft kiss to the side of the brunette's neck.

"I love you, you know that?"

"Even though I didn't tell you about seeing your father?"

"Yes. Normally it'd be nice to have some warning when he comes to town… but I don't think I could have handled knowing he was here and didn't want to see me."

"You could've handled it. I would have been here to help you."

"I… I invited him to tomorrow night."

"Okay." Arizona weaves her fingers through with Callie's, resting them on top of her bump. "Did you tell him about William?"

"Yes. I think that was one of the few times that I've seen my father tear up."

"Even-"

"Even when I told him that William was yours biologically. I wouldn't be surprised if he attempts to ask if we plan on doing this again."

"Attempts?"

"My dad has never been one to talk about intimacy issues. Add his likely discomfort about the 'two women' situation and he'll be stammering over every other word."

"Hmmm…" Noticing one of the candles has burned itself down, Arizona moves to get out, reaching down to pull the plug stopping the tub.

"Come on, no more parent talk. I need to show you something."

* * *

Leaning back into the mountain of pillows, Callie moans in happiness as Arizona hits a particularly sore spot in the arch of her foot.

"You _really_ read my mind."

"Just remember to return the favor when it's my turn." Callie cracks one eye open to stare at the blonde.

"Gladly."

Arizona squirts out more lotion and slowly starts to work it into her legs, moving higher with each stroke.

As she's doing her thing, Callie thinks back to the surprise Arizona had for her: the completed nursery.

Callie didn't want to decorate with a gender-specific color and Arizona didn't want to use a gender-specific theme. So the nursery had remained empty, save for the furniture, clothes, diapers and other baby items packed in boxes and stacked in the center of the room.

Ashleigh – home for Thanksgiving – commented to the lack of decoration, silently of course, and took upon herself the task of figuring out the decoration.

Taking measurements, she gave them to Patrick along with the rules: gender-neutral colors and themes. Together, they arrived the day after their last final, sequestered themselves in the nursery, and got to work, keeping everyone out at all times. Patrick began sketching out the design while Ashleigh and Callie's mother went out for the paint, brushes and supplies. Aria, finding herself without an assignment this holiday season, roped the visiting Colonel into helping her assemble all the furniture.

Two days of sketching, eight days of painting, and two days airing out the fumes and 6 hours arranging the furniture and the final product was a child's cartoon wonderland.

On the wall behind the crib was a single large tree with the birds seen floating through the branches and leaves. Spaces throughout the branches were several frames of different types of wood, some were filled and some were waiting to be filled. The intent for the final product being a 'family tree'.

Trees of the forest spilled out onto the two adjoining walls, thinning out so that the opposite wall was a springtime flowering meadow. Hanging out near the forest was a family of deer while the meadow was filled with cartoon rabbits, squirrels and various other woodland creatures. Peeking out from some tree branches was an owl on one side, while a woodpecker was seen on the other, making a home in one of the tree trunks.

Upon closer inspection, Callie saw that most of the flowers in the meadow were simple, 6-petal flowers – done, not with brushes, but with Patrick's thumb-print. His signature on the room, Arizona told her.

All the furniture was a dark wood, the color matched that of the bark of the family tree. Looking over the photos, Callie sees that one side looks to be dedicated to the Torres family, including several of her father – at Patrick's assistance; the other side dedicated to the Robbins' side. Up top is the family the two women choose to be a part of: the men and women of Seattle Grace/Mercy West – including George and Izzie.

Seeing the photo of the two former interns of George walking Izzie down the aisle was what sent Callie over the edge. With silent tears flowing down her cheeks, Arizona leads her out of the room, shutting the door behind them.

* * *

Callie is brought back to the present when she no longer feels her fiancée's hands on her. Opening her eyes and sitting up, she turns to see Arizona swapping her favorite lotion out for the cocoa butter.

Arizona settles into position behind Callie and begins to rub the lotion into Callie's belly, hips and breasts.

When Callie hit the 12-week mark, stopped freaking out over the morning sickness and started freaking out over the non-existent stretch marks, the pair turned this into part of their nightly routine. Every night, before bedtime, Arizona would settle in behind Callie and massage the lotion into her skin.

Callie insists that's the reason she never developed stretch marks; Arizona insists that she probably wouldn't have developed them anyway, being that she's currently 32-weeks along and looks like she's closer to the half-way point than the finish line. But the blonde loves this nightly ritual of theirs so she doesn't complain. Often times – like tonight – this is what relaxes Callie to the point of sleep.

* * *

Okay, here's my credit: These characters don't belong to me, they belong to Shonda and TPTB at ABC. Therefore this is not plagiarism.

So normally, I write up whatever comes to mind, and then I arrange those bits into a story. So, as this story is coming to a close, I'm going through and finding all the bits that I didn't use because they didn't fit into the story. My question for ya'll is: Who would like to see those chapters? There's only two or three, I think. They're good bits, they just didn't quite fit in; Like both George and Mark offering to be the father of their baby – with two very different attitudes, of course. Anyways…votes?


	12. Family

So I know the Teddy/Mark relationship only recently occurred, but I like them, so in my universe, they were together at New Years. And obviously the group of Grey sisters, Mark, Derek and Arizona did not spend the night in surgery… unless you want them to be paged into the hospital following this chapter, in which case that will happen after the final words here. As for the missing scenes I asked everyone if they wanted to see, if I post them, I'll likely post the entire story in a new chapter, just with the additional scenes added where they should appear. Otherwise, I think this will be the end. I'm contemplating a sequel, set during the summer at the Robbins family reunion. So if anyone wants to see baby William, the extended Robbins family, and Patrick's proposal to Ashleigh, and all of their adventures, let me know.

* * *

"See, everything is going fine." Arizona pulls Callie into her arms as she walks past. The blonde, using the added height the barstool she's sitting on grants her, rests her chin on Callie's shoulder. Together, the pair takes in the scene before them. Mark, Ashleigh, Nick and Patrick are standing off by the fireplace; the young artist is attempting to hide his emotions while Ashleigh stands by looking mortified at something her quasi-uncles are saying to her boyfriend.

* * *

"So, when exactly are you going to make an honest woman out of Ash here?" Nick turns to Patrick, curiosity blatantly displayed across his face. "See, here's the thing: like Arizona, I protect the things I love, and if I get even the slightest inkling that you're mistreating Ashleigh-,"

"When have I ever given you the slightest indication that he's even the slightest bit capable of hurting me?" The young blonde interrupts Nick's attempt at a protection speech. "Just because you didn't get to do the 'break her heart and I'll break your neck' speech with mom, doesn't mean that you can do it with my boyfriend. And you-," she turns to Mark, "I know you did give mom that very speech in regards to Callie, but please don't let that think that you can do it with him either. So, either we discuss something other than Patrick and mine's private life, or you two find someone else to torture."

"I don't like the idea of the two of them having a 'private life', do you?" Nick turns to Mark, quickly backtracking when he see's Ashleigh's hand raising to smack him. "Kidding! Kidding! Geeze, you have no sense of humor. So, how's the rebuild coming along?" Nick quickly changes the subject, knowing that the rebuild is the one topic that can distract Ashleigh from any previous conversation.

"It's going very well." Nick and Mark tune her out while she goes on about structural supports and period carvings, while Patrick hangs on to her every word adoringly.

* * *

"So, when exactly do you think that Patrick is going to propose to Ashleigh?" Callie turns to her fiancée for an answer. Arizona leans in to whisper her answer in Callie's ear.

"He asked for my permission this morning. He's planning on asking her this summer at the reunion."

"And having the ceremony next summer in the church?"

"Likely, he knows how important that is to her." Arizona places a kiss on Callie's cheek before they turn their attention back to their guests.

Teddy has since joined the group, tucking herself into Mark's side with an arm around his waist. Mark is still tuning Ashleigh out, but the blonde seems to be forgiving him for it as she notices the adoring gaze her new uncle is granting the heart surgeon she quickly took a liking to upon her arrival.

Derek, Meredith, Owen and Christina are tucked away by the bookshelves. Much to Christina's dismay, Callie's four-year-old niece, Delia took an instant liking to the surly resident. Evidenced by the fact that she refuses to relinquish her hold on the woman's leg.

* * *

"_Please help me!_" Christina sends the hushed request to her group, quickly glancing down at the child attached to her leg. The group smiles indulgently at the young girl before Owen takes pity on his girlfriend, placing his drink on the shelf before bending over to pick up the young girl. Everyone chuckles softly at the child's refusal to relinquish hold of the leg, but when she sees that she'll be at a better height to see everyone, she quickly settles into Owen's strong hold, resting her head on his shoulder so that she can still see Christina.

"So, when are you gonna give Owen one of those?" Christina chokes on the sip of wine she just consumed at Meredith's teasing question, shooting a murderous glare at her best friend, while their men chuckle softly at the best friends' antics.

* * *

"I know she doesn't plan on any, but Christina really will make an amazing mother."

"Don't let her hear you say that." Callie chuckles at the blonde's comment. "The chief and Matthew seem to be hitting it off."

"The chief made mention to his regenerative medicine research. They've been discussing it ever since. I overheard Chief mention having to credit Matt as a partner with all the new ideas he's giving him."

"Which Matt surely turned down." Callie's states, not questions, knowing already how her future brother-in-law's mind works, even after only knowing him for a few months.

"The Chief doesn't understand that there are doctors out there that don't want their name in lights and are willing to give assistance to help others get their research moving forwards without accepting credit for their help."

"Which still won't stop the Chief from thanking him when he accepts his Harper Avery."

"Oh, totally. Ugh, our mom's are getting along _really_ well."

"Yeah, well, we knew that would happen."

* * *

The two matriarchs of the family are seated on two overstuffed chairs just off to the side of the book shelves, Cassia resting in her grandmother's arms, while Sophia has found comfort in Kate's embrace, and appears to be napping.

"How is your husband coming along with all of this?" Kate softly questions Alexandria, who quickly requested the other woman call her Alex.

"It's still early, but I think he's slowly accepting it all. He asked me if Arizona and Calliope planned on doing this again and wanted to know the details. I know they want to have one more child, but do you know anything else?"

"Arizona said next time she's going and she'll be carrying Callie's child. They considered using the same donor, but apparently Callie wants a 'mini-Arizona' she said."

"Do they know what this donor looks like?"

"The coloring of Callie, but with blue eyes, that was Callie's only demand. So for the next child, they're looking for a donor that has Arizona's coloring so there is a better chance of getting a blue-eyed, blonde."

"I'm not geneticist, but isn't dark hair and eyes a dominant trait?"

"Yes it is." Addison joins the two women, smiling at the children fighting sleep in their laps. "But Callie's father has blue eyes, so there's still a chance her child could have blue eyes also. But the chance of the child having blonde hair is slim, but still possible."

"Good to know. So, Addison, are you certain that staying in Seattle through William's birth won't make you want to stay for good and take your old job back?" Kate asks what she heard several of the other doctors comment on.

"Positive, ma'am. I'm very happy where I am in my practice. My love life could stand some improvement, but I definitely wouldn't be getting that if I moved back up here."

* * *

Seeing Addison joining the mothers, the host pair glance around the rest of the room. Callie tears up when she sees George sitting in a wheelchair in the corner of the room. Amanda is tightly clutching his hand while his other is holding Alyssa in place on his lap. The nine-year-old took an instant liking to George and has rarely left his side during the night. Lena is standing by, deeply immersed in conversation with Amanda, likely over her schooling, since Lena's first trip around the college campus left her with a degree in sports medicine.

Aria and Tommy are standing off in a corner quietly talking amongst themselves. Anyone with eyes can see the attraction between the pair.

"I know your brother is an honorable man and all, but I do not like the looks he and Aria are sharing."

"What bothers you? The age difference?"

"No, it's not even ten years. It's just… her heart's been broken by one military man already. I know she says she has no regrets to her marriage to West, but I also know that if she were to be widowed again, she'd never recover. And there's the travel. Yes, both their jobs entail a lot of travel, but their travel does not follow the same path."

"Okay, yes, he's an honorable man, so he won't hurt her, at least not intentionally. For the most part 85% of his work time is spent in DC or in the US; he very rarely has to travel. As he's further promoted, he'll spend less and less time in war zones. And even if he is sent to a war zone, he's super careful; he doesn't want mom and dad to have to bury another child. And as for the travel… well you were hoping that she would find something to keep her anchored to this country, maybe this is it. Maybe this will get her to stop running so fast and far."

"I love you, you know that?"

"I do, but I never tire of hearing it." Sparing one last glance at her sister, Callie searches the room for her father, on the second pass, she catches a glimpse of him through the glass door leading outside, standing on the porch talking with CJ and the Colonel. She heard snippets of conversation earlier in the evening, enough to know that she should be thanking the Colonel for his words to her father, words that led to him bridging the gap between the two and starting the mending process on their relationship.

Hearing the woman in her arms let out a sigh of contentment, Arizona tightens her hold on the younger woman, softly questioning her.

"What was that sigh for?"

"Never thought I'd have this again."

"What?"

Callie uses her arm to motion the scene in front of her.

"My family… _our_ family."

"Hmm, well, no one can resist me, I am that awesome." Callie chuckles softly at those words, though she falls silent quickly, contemplating the scene before her.

Her family, together again, together for good.


End file.
